Cape Town (South Africa): A hotel and contemporary African art gallery in a grain silo

How to turn a grain silo into a museum? The challenge was to take a listed building constructed in 1921, measuring 57m in height and housing 42 concrete tubes, and turn it into a museum for contemporary African art. The construction was once the tallest building in South Africa, a monument of the industrial past of the city. The silo was used to store and grade the maze, but it lost its use after containerised shipping increased. For architect Thomas Heatherwick, the solution was to create an atrium in eight of the tubes and use transparent materials to show the building in its best possible light. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa – Zeitz MOCAA - opened in September 2017 and is located on the Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront, one of the most visited destinations in Africa, with almost 24 million visitors annually. It occupies 9500 m² across nine floors, including 6000 m² of exhibit space and one floor dedicated to educational activities. The exhibits ensure that the building, a prominent feature of the Cape Town skyline, is properly showcased and continues to contribute strongly to the city’s identity. Apart from the museum, a six-floor hotel was also developed by the architects above the silo’s storage units and opened its doors in the spring of 2017.