Formally opened on 15 November 2007, the Wallenberg Research Centre primarily houses office and meeting spaces for Fellows, STIAS staff and guests.
The Fellows’ section, including the North Wing, which opened in March 2025, now includes a total of 37 individual Fellows’ offices and one team office. The North Wing added 16 individual Fellows’ offices, two small meeting rooms and several communal lounging spaces. The popular coffee and tea station, which often facilitates unexpected collaborations and networking, has been significantly expanded.
The Centre also provides fully equipped conference venues with a capacity of up to 300 conference guests, as well as a breakaway room. The building’s two auditoriums offer optimal conditions for concentrated and undisturbed work, while the communal areas encourage interaction for exchanging viewpoints and perspectives and to stimulate new thought.
Manor House
The Manor House is an elegant tribute to the estate’s past - Victorian in style with elegant décor and a relaxing old-world feeling. The house dates back to 1818, while the wine cellar is as old as 1848. The Mostertsdrift farm as a whole and its restored buildings and antique furniture are protected by the South African Council for National Heritage. The Manor House is the headquarters of STIAS and is used for staff offices. The Manor Library is used for Fellows’ seminars and other smaller public meetings.
SACEMA & CST
STIAS shares the Mostertsdrift farm property with two other research-focused organisations, the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) and the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST).
SACEMA is housed in what used to be a wine cellar and was restored, redesigned and refitted to be used as a modern research facility, while CST occupies the former Mostertsdrift farm horse stables.
The property boasts magnificent views of the Jonkershoek Valley of Stellenbosch with the famous Pieke in the distance and is surrounded by magnificent waterwise gardens featuring many examples of indigenous Western Cape flora.
Perold Vineyard
When planning the development of the Mostertsdrift site for STIAS, municipal zoning forbade buildings on the southwest corner of the property, which was part of the old bed of the First River and subject to potential flooding. This led to the plan to plant a vineyard on this half-hectare section.
Echoing STIAS’s commitment to promote ground-breaking research, the vineyard honours the legacy of another pioneer and innovative thinker, Abraham Perold. By crossing Pinot Noir with Hermitage (Cinsaut), Perold became the creator of the uniquely South African cultivar Pinotage, which was chosen for the new vineyard. The Pinotage Association adopted the vineyard from the beginning and initially supported it financially.
The Perold Vineyard covers 0,5 hectares and is planted with 966 vines. It is the southernmost vineyard in the Jonkershoek Valley district.
