British designer Thomas Heatherwick has revealed plans to hollow out sections of a heritage listed grain silo complex to create a new art gallery for the V&A Waterfront museum in Cape Town, South Africa.
Heatherwick’s proposal sees the cluster of 42 vertical concrete tubes that make up the grain silo structure, transformed into a building dedicated to contemporary African art.
An elliptical section will be hollowed out from the centre of the nine-storey structure to create a grand atrium that will be filled with light from an overhead glass roof.
Some silo chambers will be carved away at ground level to accommodate exhibition galleries, while others will accommodate elevators and stairs.
Layers of render and paint will be removed from the existing facades to reveal the raw concrete of the silos, while windows will be created from special glazing panels, which bulge outward as if gently inflated.
Education facilities and site-specific exhibition areas will be provided within the re-engineered underground tunnels.
Heatherwick will partner with local firms Van Der Merwe Miszewski, Rick Brown Associates and Jacobs Parker on the delivery and fit out of the gallery.
Courtesy V&A Waterfront and Dezeen
