Chargo Farmstall – Rural Free State, South Africa

Overview

Perched at the edge of rolling maize fields, Chargo Farmstall transforms a simple gable-roofed barn into a warm, welcoming country market. Designed to showcase local produce, artisanal goods and farm-to-table hospitality, the stall invites travellers and neighbours alike to pause, shop and connect with the land.

Design Concept

• Vernacular Reimagined
  We retained the barn’s classic pitched roof and simple volume, then draped it in black corrugated metal and crisp white render—an interpretation of the rural shed vernacular updated with contemporary lines.

• Indoor–Outdoor Flow
  A deep, cantilevered veranda shelters sliding timber screens that open fully to the landscape. This seamless transition blurs the boundary between trading floor and fields beyond, inviting in breezes and afternoon light.

• Tactile Material Palette
  Heavy-duty stone gabion walls line parking and gathering areas, grounding the building in its stony Free State context. Warm oak shelving and recycled-steel counters inside echo the colours of harvested grain and sun‐baked earth.

  “Chargo Farmstall is exactly what our community needed—a place where the building and the land truly feel like one.”