Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
Location Cape Town, Western Cape
Coordinates 33°54′11″S 18°25′22″E / 33.90306°S 18.42278°E / -33.90306; 18.42278Coordinates: 33°54′11″S 18°25′22″E / 33.90306°S 18.42278°E / -33.90306; 18.42278
Ocean/sea sources Table Bay Harbour of the Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries South African
Website www.waterfront.co.za
Victoria & Alfred Hotel at V&A Waterfront

The Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront in Cape Town is situated on the Atlantic shore, Table Bay Harbour, the City of Cape Town and Table Mountain. Adrian van der Vyver designed the complex.

Situated in South Africa’s oldest working harbor, the 123 hectares (300 acres) area has been developed for mixed-use, with both residential and commercial real estate.

The Waterfront attracts more than 23 million visitors a year.[1]

History

Clock Tower (built 1882) at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria, visited the Cape Colony harbour in 1860 as a sixteen-year-old Royal Navy Midshipman on HMS Euryalus. He made a big splash with the colonials on this first-ever visit by a member of the Royal Family. The first basin of the new Navy Yard was named after him and the second after his mother.

Products and services

Ships in drydock for repair at this working waterfront

The complex houses over 450 retail outlets, including fashion, homeware and curios, to jewelry, leather goods and audio-visual equipment. The V&A Waterfront is also still a working harbour and fishing boats bring in fresh fish, and larger container ships are towed in by tugboats.

Developments

In 2015, the V&A Waterfront announced the development of a new mixed-use Canal District. [2] The first building in the district, Waterway House, was designed by architecture firm dhk and completed in 2017. The commercial building houses the British American Tobacco South Africa offices.[3] Battery Park, an urban park with a piazza, retail and recreational facilities, was later added to the district in 2018. The design of the park references the old Amsterdam Battery, which was built on the same site by the Dutch in 1784 but has since been largely demolished.[4]

The Waterfront has also developed a new Silo district, which currently houses the new headquarters of Allan Gray Investment Management at Silo 1 and apartments at Silo 2. The project is expected to be completed in 2017 with the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, a Virgin Active gym and a hotel in the works.[5]

Features in the waterfront

References

  1. ↑ Philani Nombembe, "V&A Waterfront contributes almost R200 billion to SA economy, retail sales grow again", Sunday Times, 26 January 2015
  2. ↑ "V&A Waterfront Canal District | Connecting the City". Estate Magazine. 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  3. ↑ Darren. "Top projects of 2016". Building & Decor. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  4. ↑ "A look at Cape Town's new urban park at the waterfront's Canal District". The South African. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  5. ↑ Greve, Natalie. "V&A Waterfront commits further R1.5bn to Silo district development". Retrieved 2015-08-30.
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