Four generations of architects shaped Gqeberha’s appearance in South Africa
In Gqeberha, South Africa, four generations of the Siemerink-Brinkman family spent more than a century designing buildings that became part of the urban environment. The family’s associated projects include Ridgewood House, the city’s original Ford Motor Company factory, hospital buildings, coastal residential homes and the Northern Public Library.
As Daily Maverick reports, Stockelbach House, also known as Ridgewood, now operates as the GFI Gallery art gallery. It was designed for Axel Stockelbach, the first managing director of Ford Motor Company South Africa. Architect Gertruida Brinkman led work on the private residence on Park Drive.
The beginning of the family business
The family’s history in South Africa’s construction sector began in the early 20th century, when Hendrik Siemerink moved from the Netherlands to South Africa. He took up the post of district engineer at the Transvaal Department of Public Works and played an important role in the construction of the Union Buildings complex in Pretoria in 1913.
Two years later, Siemerink was transferred to the post of district engineer of what was then Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha. After leaving his position, he founded an architectural firm. His daughter Gertruida studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and became the first woman in South Africa to qualify as an architect. In the 1930s, she and her husband, architect and engineer Jack Brinkman, joined Siemerink at the Siemerink and Brinkman firm.
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The firm designed the original Ford factory in the North End area, at the corner of York and Stockelbach streets. Afterwards, Axel Stockelbach commissioned the design of his own house. The family’s work was characterised by decorative patterns on fences and balustrades, as well as rounded walls and windows.
Hospital projects
The family’s third generation was represented by Gertruida and Jack’s son Bruce Brinkman, who paid particular attention to healthcare projects. The company participated in designing extensions to Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital and, in the 1950s, developed the first buildings of the Livingstone Hospital complex.
Bruce Brinkman and his son Brian, a fourth-generation architect, also worked on the design of the Livingstone Hospital emergency department. It was built during South Africa’s preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Brian Brinkman is a director of b4 Architects, which specialises in the design of healthcare facilities, and continues to research archives to find projects by previous generations of the family that were unknown to him.
