Homes with history, made for the way you live now
I'm Kirsten, a Cape Town architect who designs and restores heritage homes for the way you live today, while honouring each home's history.
How I can help
Restore
Repairing and reviving original features, so what makes the house special is kept and cared for.
Adapt
Reworking layout, light and everyday comfort so an older home suits the way your household lives now.
Extend
Adding to a heritage home, or building new beside one, in a way that sits comfortably with its history.
Projects
A selection of heritage restorations, renovations and additions.
About Kirsten
Heritage architecture is rich with history, detail and emotion. There is soul in these buildings, and love too, in all the labour it took to build them. Every time I work on a heritage home that has stood the test of time, it feels like an honour.
But a home is also somewhere to live, and these houses weren't designed for the way we live today. That's where I come in.
I design and restore heritage homes so they work for you now, without losing what makes them special. Whether that means opening up a dark kitchen, making room for a growing family, or repairing what time has worn away, my aim is a home that is easy to live in and still tells its own story.
Heritage work calls for care and patience, and it's where I do my best work. I listen first, to you and to the house. Then we look at what's original and worth keeping, what can change, and how the two can sit together comfortably.
- Registration
- Registered Professional Architect, South African Council for the Architectural Profession (PR ARCH 37134242)
- Education
- University of Cape Town: BAS, BAS(Hons) and MArch (Prof)
- Heritage training
- Heritage Resources Management course, University of Cape Town, 2021
- Memberships
- South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) and Cape Institute for Architecture (CIFA)
- Community
- Architecture and Heritage Committee, Observatory Civic Association, 2018 to 2020
Before you meet your architect
Before you meet your architect
A free guide with 20 questions to think about, and the documents to gather, before your first consultation. It helps you arrive with clarity rather than guesswork.
You'll also find a checklist of the documents worth finding first: previously approved plans, your SG diagram and your title deed.
When you're ready to talk
Tell me about your home and what you'd like it to become. Don't worry if you can't answer everything yet. Bring what you have, and we'll work out the rest together.
- Phone
- 076 902 3476
- @kburgessarchitects