Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa March/April 2015

PROJECT The Watershed The project was conceptualised as a collection of individual buildings under the cover of the existing shed, thus approaching sustainability through a passive design strategy THE WATERSHED V&A Waterfront, Cape Town DEVELOPER/CLIENT V & A Waterfront ARCHITECTS Wolff Architects QUANTITY SURVEYORS Pentad Quantity Surveyors STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS LH Consulting Engineers ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS GIBB MECHANICAL ENGINEERS Basil Nair & Associates WSP Group Africa FIRE CONSULTANTS SolutionStation ACOUSTIC CONSULTANTS Mackenzie Hoy Consulting Engineers T he V&A Waterfront’s newest mixed-use development, the Watershed, has been open to the public since October 2014. The building was historically an electrical warehouse and, in more recent years, was divided up into the Blue Shed craft market on the one side and the Maritime Museum on the other. The Maritime Museum then moved and the space was sitting vacant. DEVELOPER’S REPORT The V&A Waterfront was looking to increase the footfall in a traditionally scarce area of the precinct and increasing trading density for the market traders. The V&A approached architect, Heinrich Wolff, to look at the space. Wolff proposed not only using the vacant space, but knocking through to the Blue Shed and re-envisaging the space completely. The V&A supported this idea and the Watershed concept was born. South African cities are becoming increasingly segregated and compartmentalised. The Watershed is a contribution to better city-making. The design concept stemmed from the intention to create a sustainable urban condition that supports a market economy. This is done by the creation of a street through the workshop, thereby linking the aquarium to the rest of the V&A Waterfront. This urban gesture offers substantial benefit to the surrounding context, creating opportunities for other urban role players to benefit from. The buildings inside the shed address the pedestrian street with a 50m x 50m columnless, suspended steel structure flying over the street, releasing the potential activities of the street. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS Greenbuild Consultants ELEVATOR CONSULTANTS Solutions for Elevating WIND CONSULTANT Adam Goliger LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Julian Raxworthy LAND SURVEYOR David Hellig & Abrahamse WORKSHOP 17 – INTERIOR ARCHITECTS Metropolis Design MAIN CONTRACTOR WBHO Construction TEXT V & A Waterfront Mackenzie Hoy Consulting Engineers PHOTOGRAPHY Marc Hoberman 58 The Watershed

Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa March/April 2015 | Page 58