On Quay 7 at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, a new hotel keeps one foot in the port’s industrial past. The Cape Town Edition Hotel was designed by Neri&Hu with local architects and professional firms.
The original warehouse on the site was too unstable to keep. The team kept its footprint and construction logic instead. The new building takes its cue from the long, narrow forms and pitched roofs of the industrial structures around it.
Reusing an existing structure rather than starting from scratch runs through this project, much like a Mallorcan townhouse that adapts its original materials. Banyalbufar Townhouse Reuse with Adapted Materials shows how careful material choices can extend a building’s life.
A circular core for the hotel
The hotel is organized around The Drum, a cylindrical space open to the elements. From its 360-degree outdoor viewing platform, visitors can see the harbor, Table Mountain, the Atlantic, and the waterfront below.
A spiral staircase leads up to the platform. Guests, visitors, and locals can all climb it for a view of the city from above.
Lyndon Neri, co-founder of Neri&Hu, says the project started with a question about how to link the hotel’s hospitality and residential spaces while keeping them distinct. The Drum became the answer.
“The route is both architectural and civic,” Neri says. “It turns circulation into an experience of the landscape and gives the project a public dimension beyond accommodation.”
Materials sourced close to home
Local sourcing sits at the center of the hotel’s sustainability strategy. It shaped the building materials, and it also shaped the furniture, art, and objects in the interiors.
Local manufacturers supplied the metalwork and joinery. The joinery draws on 19th-century travel trunks. Custom furniture was made locally, and rugs were woven by Shuttleworth Weaving, based in KwaZulu-Natal.
Warm finishes meet wide window frames that frame long views across the bay.
More than 6 million bricks form the facade. A family-owned manufacturer in the Western Cape produced them, and workers laid them by hand. The bond creates shifting patterns that give the building its texture and rhythm.
The sand-colored brick echoes the natural tones of the surrounding landscape. It also stands out against the cooler blue of the sea beyond.
Neri describes the goal in direct terms. “Our interest was never in an architecture that competes with this landscape, nor one that simply defers to it,” he says. “Instead, we asked how the building might register those forces.”
He adds that the team wanted brick, light, and carefully framed views to form a sequence of spaces. Those spaces, in his words, are “bound to the Waterfront and unmistakably of Cape Town.”
Art with a link to the continent
Art in the hotel does more than decorate. Design Network Africa sourced objects from makers across the continent. These include Zulu ukhamba vessels and mouth-blown recycled glass from Eswatini.
Cape Town gallery Southern Guild curated the art collection. It includes black-and-white portraits by Zanele Muholi, Usha Seejarim’s artwork Fading Dish Cloth, and smoke-fired ceramics by Chuma Maweni. The ceramics give the lobby and dining spaces a sculptural presence.
Rooms, spa, and rooftop
The Cape Town Edition has 142 guestrooms and suites. Two suites sit at the top of the building: a 240-square-meter Penthouse and a 112-square-meter Harbor Suite, each with panoramic views.
The spa is below sea level. It offers a sauna, steam room, infrared beds, and aromatherapy. Daily sound baths, yoga classes, and movement sessions run alongside it. The heated rooftop pool and sundeck offer another place to rest.
Rooftop amenities and hotel conversions of landmark buildings have their own appeal, and a similar approach appears in a famous London tower. London’s BT Tower Gets Rooftop Hotel Oasis is worth a look for how a recognizable landmark is being reimagined for guests.
The Punch Room draws on the centuries-old custom of drinking punch communally. That ritual travelled along trade routes that once passed through the Cape. Velvet banquettes, wood paneling, and low atmospheric lighting make the room feel like a modern take on the region’s food and drink history.
The hotel aims for guests to leave with a clear sense of Cape Town. Neri hopes the building captures more than the city’s look. “For the building to reflect not only the visual character of Cape Town, but also its material culture and craftsmanship,” he says, “is the intention.”
Via design-milk.com
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the Cape Town Edition Hotel on Quay 7?
The Cape Town Edition Hotel was designed by Neri&Hu with local architects and professional firms. It sits on Quay 7 at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
What is The Drum at the Cape Town Edition Hotel?
The Drum is a cylindrical space open to the elements that organizes the hotel around its core. Its 360-degree outdoor viewing platform, reached by a spiral staircase, offers views of the harbor, Table Mountain, the Atlantic, and the waterfront.
How many bricks form the Cape Town Edition Hotel facade?
More than 6 million bricks form the hotel’s facade. A family-owned manufacturer in the Western Cape produced them, and workers laid them by hand.
How many guestrooms and suites does the Cape Town Edition have?
The Cape Town Edition has 142 guestrooms and suites. Two suites sit at the top of the building: a 240-square-meter Penthouse and a 112-square-meter Harbor Suite.
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