A
rondavel from the Afrikaans word rondawel is a westernised version of the
African-style hutThe rondavel is usually round or oval in shape and is
traditionally made with materials that can be locally found in raw form. Its
walls are often constructed from stones. The mortar may consist of sand, soil,
or combinations of these, mixed with cow dung. The floor of a
"traditional" rondavel is finished with a dung mixture to make it
hard and smooth. The main roofing elements of a rondavel are spars or poles
taken from tree limbs called "gumpoles" these days, which have been
harvested and cut to length. The roof covering is of thatch that is sewn to the
poles with grass rope. The process of completing the thatch can take as little
as one weekend or up to a year if made by a skilled artisan, as it must be sewn
in one section at a time, starting from the bottom working towards the top. As
each section is sewn, it may be weathered and aged to form a complete
weatherproof seal.
The roof of a rondavel from the inside.
A
rondavel at a lodge near the Kalahari Desert, Botswana.Rondavels can be found
in the countries of Southern Africa, including: South Africa, Lesoth where the
hut is also known as a mokhoro, Swaziland, Botswana, and others. In Réunion
they exist only in public places, for picnics for example. In different areas,
there are small local variations in wall height, roof pitch and general finish.
Some people elaborately carve, paint, or decorate the outside wall that has
been finished off with dung. In other places, people leave their rondavels
undecorated.
In
recent times, with the availability of modern construction materials, the
appearance and construction of rondavels has changed. They may have concrete
foundations, be built with cement blocks or brick, mortared with cement, and/or
roofed with corrugated tin. While the traditional rondavel did not have running
water, electricity, and/or other modern amenities, many are now equipped with,
or have been adapted to accommodate these services.
Today
complete homes built in the rondavel architecture are common, and rondavels are
fairly popular as outbuildings on smallholdings and commercial farms e.g.
toolsheds, milk rooms, staff accommodation, etc . Rondavels are also quite
common as holiday cottages. Apart from pre-fabricated rondavels, the roofing
material is always thatch, because it is difficult to make a neat conical roof
out of other materials.
From
a structural engineering point of view the roof of a rondavel is quite
interesting.original research? No internal struts are required. The principals
wooden poles running radially out from the apex of the roof to the top of the
rondavel's wall are fully supported by the circular purlins: First, the principals
do not sag in the middle, because sagging only puts the purlins near the middle
of the principals under compression. Second, the principals do not splay at the
bottom push the top of the walls over to the outside because splaying only puts
the purlins near the bottom of the principals under tension. Thus it is
possible to build a large rondavel without internal bracing for the roof.
Traditional African rondavels range in size depending on the availability of
building and construction materials.
