Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Conference centre for Century City
New meeting and entertainment node aims to fulfil soaring demand in growing precinct
A CONFERENCE centre – with a total capacity of 1 900 in 20 venues – and a 125-room hotel are to be built around a new public square in Century City as part of a R1 billion mixed use development i n t he Bridgeways precinct.
Greg Deans, a director of Rabie Property Group, says the development aims to fulfil demand for conferencing and hotels in the precinct and has been designed to complement Cape Town and Century City’s existing facilities.
“It will fill a gap in the market and we believe it will help cement Cape Town’s established appeal as a conference destination.”
The Century City Conference Centre (CCCC) will offer flexible configurations. Three adjoining halls
‘Every city should have at least one public square that offers a dynamic, vibrant and safe environment’
will have capacity of more than 900 delegates, seated cinema style, with a fourth hall able to accommodate a further 480 delegates. The multi-function venues will also be available for banqueting and exhibitions and a large pre-assembly area will be available for exhibitions, launches and other events.
The centre will have 12 meeting and breakaway rooms and a business lounge on the first floor, able to accommodate about 200 delegates.
Deans says Century City has a total of 460 rooms in five hotels, and the average hotel occupancy rate is over 73 percent.
“Century City has become an increasingly popular hospitality node in recent years in tandem with the growth of the precinct, which now has more than 500 businesses and more than 260 000m2 of offices, making it the third largest commercial precinct in Cape Town.
“The existing conference facilities, which range from 20-seat venues to a 300-seat facility, are unable to keep up with demand and have had to turn away business, particularly for larger conferences.”
The CCCC, in partnership with Century City Connect, Century City’s open access fibre optic network, would offer delegates and guests world-class fibre optic and wireless connectivity.
“In addition to the CCCC and hotel, the mixed-use development will include offices, showrooms, apartments, service retail and a fivelevel parking garage with direct access to the CCCC. The entire development will be set over a super parking basement which, together with the structured parking, will provide a total of 1 300 bays.
“Anchoring the development will be a multi-functional square on to which restaurants and the other hospitality elements will flow. Every city should have at least one public square t hat of f ers a dynamic, vibrant and safe environment for the public to enjoy,” says Deans.
“CCCC is one of three buildings that will form the focal point of The Square, a well-proportioned space where users will be able to socialise, relax, dine and be entertained.
“It has been designed as the hub and pivotal node of this precinct that will influence and generate future planning of its surrounds. The strong architectural form and aesthetic of the conference centre has been taken through to the Century City Hotel to form an L–shaped footprint that is offset by the more sculptural and whimsical sheer glass façades of the seven-storey freestanding office building that forms the balance of The Square.
“This environment is further enhanced by the introduction of the extended canal system of Century City and bold landscaping themes.”
Murray & Roberts have been appointed contractors and have already moved on site. All compo- nents of the development are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015, and the first conferences are expected to be hosted in early 2016.
The architect for the project is Vivid Architects, Source have been appointed interior decorators for the CCCC and Origin for the hotel.
Call Greg Deans on 021 550 7000 or visit www.centurycityconferencecentre.co.za.