A short history

From eight derelict farm sheds
to a deco market hall.

In 2016, a row of beetle-eaten apple sheds beside the Elgin platform was bought, gutted, and rebuilt by hand into the venue you can walk through today. This is that story, in pictures.

Circa 2016 – 2017Oak Avenue, GrabouwWestern Cape

01 / The shed we found

A row of beetle-eaten apple sheds, beside a quiet railway platform.

Eight identical gabled sheds, built to hold apple bins, standing in a line on the gravel that had served the Elgin platform since the line was laid. Corrugated doors hung from rails. Trusses, dust, the smell of straw and oil. We bought them.

The original row of eight gabled farm sheds at Elgin, before any work began001Original shed · the row of eight
Wooden apple bins stacked inside the original shed005Apple bins
Old farm implements in the shed before clearing008Farm implements

02 / The plan

Eight gables, a mezzanine on iron, a railway-side verandah.

Drawn before the first tile came off. The mezzanine would float on steel, the gable ends would become the rhythm of the room, and the platform side would lift its roof for the train to come in under.

Architectural design render: eight gabled roofs above a mezzanine and arches019Design render
From the drawings

The eight repeated A-frames you can see in the render became the signature of the room. Beneath them, an L-shaped mezzanine on a forest of slim steel columns. The arches on the cream face are deliberate — they're the only thing on the outside that says “deco” before you come in.

“We took the roof off first.”

Roger · 2016

03 / Strip down

Every roof tile lifted; every truss replaced.

The original trusses were beetle-infested and beyond saving. Tiles came off by hand, the roof timbers came down, and for a few months the eight gabled sheds were open to sky — concrete columns standing in a row like ribs.

Roof timbers removed, sky visible through the walls012Roof off · looking up
Roof tiles being lifted off the original shed roof009Tiles off
Beetle-infested original timber trusses being removed010Removing the old trusses
The new mezzanine steel floor going in014Mezzanine floor · steel in

04 / Concrete & steel

Slabs flown in, columns poured, the upper floor stitched together.

Two cranes — one orange, one blue — at the platform-end of the building, for weeks. Floor slabs flew in by lorry, were lifted, dropped, and screeded. Concrete pours late into the afternoon while the valley turned gold behind the eucalyptus.

Crane and concrete pump truck at the platform side of the building032Cranes · at the platform side
Concrete floor slab being lifted into place by crane022Flying floor slabs
Concrete being poured for the new floor034Concrete pour
The first steel truss raised in place025Truss 1
Sunset over the building site, eucalyptus and Elgin Valley037Sunsets, every day

05 / Trusses up

The eight new A-frames went up, one at a time.

New steel trusses, fabricated off-site, hoisted into place across the length of the building. Then the propellers — borrowed from old Spitfire frames — fitted into the fanlights below the apex of each gable. The roof closed over us a panel at a time.

The flying stairs fitted between ground floor and mezzanine027Flying stairs · fitted
The new roof being started across the gables042Roof started
The new roof in place above the mezzanine048Roof on
A worker silhouetted on the mezzanine under the finished gables and skylights051Roof almost done · one figure on the deck

“Art Deco at last.”

Slide 089 · 2017

06 / Deco arrives

Propellers, balustrades, stepped doorways. The room finds its register.

For months it was concrete, steel, brick. Then the deco details started arriving: a stepped concrete doorway cast on site, the first Spitfire propeller bolted into a gable, a wooden balustrade pattern routed by hand and offered up to a column to see if it sang.

A stepped concrete deco doorway under construction, viewed from inside092Art Deco at last · stepped doorway
The first Spitfire propeller fitted into a gable fanlight074First prop in
The wooden balustrade design fitted to the mezzanine edge078Balustrade design
The balustrade installed along the mezzanine090Balustrade in
Steel bridge members spanning between columns066Bridge members
Windows fitted into the gable fanlights086Fitted!

07 / Fitting out

Coffee, glass, doors. The shops took their shapes.

With the shell finished, the tenants moved in. A coffee roastery. A pancake shop. A wine room. Glass went into every gable window. Doors — every one of them solid wood, no two quite the same — were hung. Some of the work happened at night, because the day was for trades.

The viewing and eating counter on the mezzanine, looking down097Viewing & eating counter
The coffee shop fit-out in progress104Coffee shop
Deco architectural shapes — gable, column, balustrade103Shapes and shapes
Glass installed in a gable fanlight108Glass in
The shop doors all hung along the verandah111Doors all on
Night welding — sparks under the gables in the dark113Night welding

08 / Open for business

The station name went up. People came. The train arrived.

One winter Saturday in 2017, the doors opened. The ELGIN letters were already up on the platform-side wall. People filled the verandah. The first Ceres Rail train pulled in, whistled, hissed, and stopped at the door. The market has been here ever since.

People crowding the verandah on opening day, with the ELGIN station name on the wall118People at last · opening day
The station name being fitted to the building exterior115Station name
The market floor, open and full, on a trading day119Open for business
Crowds on the mezzanine and verandah136Crowds
The Ceres Rail steam train arriving at the platform138Trains
A close-up of a brass-bolt detail, weathered by use114…and nature slithered in

Today

It took a year to make. It has been here ever since.

The market is open every Saturday and Sunday, 09h00 – 16h00. The steam train arrives at the door on weekend trips from Cape Town. Come and walk through what was built.

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