Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Capricious Cape weather tamed for diners at waterside restaurants
ALTHOUGH it covers an area of 1 000m² of outdoor restaurant space, the new R15 million steel-and-glass canopy at the V&A Waterfront has met the client’s brief to its architects by being almost invisible.
“The V&A Quayside area has a wonderful view from its spectacular position only 3 metres above the old Victoria Basin. And its restaurants are popular for their singular location in one of Cape Town’s main attractions,” says architect Robert Silke, whose partnership was responsible for the design of the new structure.
For Silke, the brief was a manifold challenge, as the nearly 30-year-old retail and lifestyle hub is protected by architectural design constraints, and the 150-year-old antique working harbour, that remains its primary element, cannot be tampered with in any way.
The work on the canopy is now complete, to the satisfaction of the V&A management and its high-profile restaurant tenants. For locals and visitors from all over the world who flock to the V&A, the canopy makes it possible to enjoy the sights and sounds of the harbour and the views beyond – even in the teeth of a winter storm or a summer southeaster.
Silke says the instruction from the client, V&A chief executive David Green, was to provide a structure in perfect harmony with the façade of the buildings at that point, and to create a light, unobstructed direct line of sight from one end to the other.
“Visitors were to be able at a glance to make their informed choice of the five restaurants that drift into the newly created undercover space. The absence of umbrellas and other obstructions would create clear sight-lines.
“We created a structure of large horizontal sections of Italian awnings, on a metal frame that echoes the texture of the harbour’s traditional steel beams. Protection from the wind is provided by vertical frameless high-performance glass that is almost invisible. Cool misting and heating functions are built into the structure.”
To meet the varying preferences of diners, the 4m-high canopy sup- ports what Silke describes as five different micro-climates, providing anything from comfortably cool, to near full solar exposure for the Europeans who love to bask in the African sun.
Restaurateur Ian Halfon has operated for 25 years at the V&A where his award-winning restaurants in the Slick Group, Balducci, Belthazar and Gibson’s draw enormous patronage.
Not optimistic at first about whether the Cape Town weather could be controlled outside on the Victoria Wharf, he now says the canopy concept was visionary as a longterm solution. “It’s an unbelievable job that affords the best of both worlds.”
Niaz Ahmed, project manager in the V&A development department says the new structure exactly performs the role it was designed for, to provide usable, protected space in a conservatory environment.
“The concept took two years to refine (so it remained) in keeping with the existing structure and the harbour it overlooks. It has culminated in a very happy outcome.”