Heritage Square is a unique conservation project, its buildings date back to 1771. Amazingly in the 1980's the entire block was earmarked for demolition to make way for a 2000 bay parking garage linked to a concrete highway. Public pressure coupled with private investment prevented this from happening, and as a result the buildings have been sympathetically restored to portray their original Dutch and Georgian facades and internally to reveal original brick walls, ceilings and hardwood floors.

Heritage Square is now a vibrant community consisting of five restaurants, jeweller, boutique, hairdresser and ancient forger. Its centrepiece is a warren of stairwells and alleyways whose heart is the courtyard, which incorporates the oldest surviving grapevine in South Africa, planted in the 1770's