OVERALL AWARD WINNER
OVERALL HERITAGE: JOINT WINNER | REFURBISHMENTS: JOINT WINNER
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), V&A Waterfront
Although the V&A Waterfront was already a vibrant
area, it lacked a major cultural institution on the site. In the
past few decades there have been a number of examples
of contemporary art museums as a mode of urban and
social development, such as Bilbao Guggenheim and
the Tate Modern. However, globally there were clearly a
lack of museums focusing on contemporary art works of
African artists. At the same time as the Waterfront was
developing its plans for a major cultural institution in the
Grain Silo, the Zeitz Foundation was seeking a permanent
home for their collection of contemporary art from Africa
and it’s diaspora. The two programmes coincided and it
was decided that the Grain Silo would be transformed
into a new museum to be known as the Zeitz MOCAA.
The inspired design by Heatherwick Studio called for
half of the internal silo structures to be demolished to
make way for six new suspended concrete art display
floors whilst carefully retaining the delicate existing and
deteriorated external fabric of the silos, the other half
of the internal silos, the future open atrium, required an
intricate ‘bite’ to be carved out in the shape of a huge corn
grain. What silo proportions remained above the ‘carved’
out atrium actually hung suspended in the air and open
to the skies above, but glazed for weatherproofing. To
achieve the ambitious atrium carving, the original silos
were re-sleeved with new reinforced concrete rings, linked
together through the existing concrete rings at strategic
positions, to create a structural ‘portal frame’ spanning
over 20m of the atrium.
As if hewn from the building’s centre, the Atrium
provides access to the 80 gallery floors that are organised
around the central atrium and forms a major social space
that reveals the original intersecting structural geometries.
The existing concrete grain silo tubes were pared back
to reveal the curved geometries of the 4,600m 3 atrium and
the cut edges were polished to give a mirrored finish that
contrasts with the building’s rough concrete aggregate.
The gallery spaces are white boxes that have been
carefully placed within the retained concrete façade. The
galleries span six floors and are accessed via lifts and the
metal spiral staircase that was crane lifted into the tubes.
The mechanical engineers provided international best
practice design to deliver precise environmental control
to the museum to enable loans from international art
institutions. The design placed emphasis on energy
efficiency to reduce power consumption and the buildings
demand on municipal infrastructure. Using a two stage
environmental control, a single system is dedicated to
filtering and purifying the outside air, and multiple smaller
systems are dedicated to conditioning each gallery space.
The museum also includes a rooftop sculpture
garden, education centre, conservation labs, a bookshop,
restaurant and bar.
Developer/Owner: V&A Waterfront
Project Manager: Mace Management Services
Lead Design Architect: Heatherwick Studio (London)
Executive Architect: VDMMA
Museum Fit Out Architect: Jacobs Parker
Quantity Surveyor: MLC Quantity Surveyors
Civil & Structural: Sutherland Engineers
Fire & Electrical: SolutionStation
Mechanical/Wet Services and Façade: Arup
Lift Consultant: Solutions for Elevating
Heritage Consultant: Nicolas Baumann
EMP Consultant: Ecosense Environmental Practitioners
Health and Safety Consultant: Eco-Safety
Acoustic Consultant: SRL South Africa
Disability Consultant: Disability Solutions
Independent Commissioning Agent:
Matrix Consulting Services
Landscape Architect (Roof): Planning Partners
Land Surveyors: David Hellig & Abrahamse
Town Planner: Neil Schwartz Town Planning
Main Contractor: WBHO Construction
64
SAPOA Awards