#Factory town silo series
#Factory town silo windows

The pièce de résistance is a raised, grass-covered pavilion–the hotel’s highest point–which offers 360-degree views of the seaside city, which backs up against Table Mountain.

And on the 11th floor, the Silo’s rooftop bar is already attracting Cape Town’s most fashionable crowd thanks to its sleek pool and hip atmosphere. There, the Willaston Bar (aptly named after the SS Willaston, the first ship to transport grain from the building in 1924) and fine dining restaurant can be found. Framed by the unmistakable pillowed-glass windows, the space is decorated with plush velvet sofas, vintage barstools and industrial light fixtures: an opulent glass jewel box in the sky. The wow factor continues as guests are whisked upstairs to the 6th-floor lobby. (This is only appropriate, as the hotel sits directly above the Zeitz-MOCAA contemporary art museum, already regarded as the Tate Modern of Africa). The art collection, which includes many works specially commissioned for the Silo, was another key element of Liz Biden’s vision for the property. In fact, the Silo boasts one of the world’s greatest collections of contemporary South African art, which is evidenced by hundreds of colorful, eclectic pieces gracing the rooms and common spaces. There, juxtaposed with the building’s original grain hoppers, a giant industrial chandelier hangs above a kooky neon sculpture an evocative war photograph and a painting of a femme fatale that, upon further inspection, is constructed entirely of sequins. Guests enter the Silo on the ground floor, where their first eyeful of the hotel includes a glorious collection of modern art.

#Factory town silo windows

And while the construction was no easy feat-each of the 82 windows was hand-cut so as not to interfere with the building’s structural integrity-the property was unveiled in March 2017 as a modern masterpiece. The vision: transform the cylindrical structures into high-ceilinged, palatial guest rooms, embracing the building’s industrial skeleton and balancing it with Liz Biden’s plush, baroque-style interior design. Enter Thomas Heatherwick, the famed architect who found an innovative solution to the design conundrum. Finally she landed on the city’s grain silo which, however iconic, presented a challenge, as the 1920’s-era factory complex contained 42 vertical cylinders (silos) that could not be removed. The Silo marks an important moment for South Africa’s seaside city, breathing life into Cape Town’s waterfront and ushering a new era of luxury tourism to the colorful capital.Īt the helm of the project is Liz Biden, the visionary hotelier behind several much-lauded South African retreats, who searched for more than a decade for the perfect location.

A project nearly 10 years in the making, the boutique hotel is part of an exciting urban development involving the restoration of the city’s historic grain silo, which also houses the much-anticipated Zeitz-MOCAA art museum. The structure demands attention–and certainly receives it–as the opening of the Silo Hotel has quickly become the hottest news in Cape Town this year.

#Factory town silo series

Its exterior is a spectacle: a series of giant, pillowed glass windows, with geometric panes tinted blue in the reflecting sun. In the shipping port-cum-trendy downtown hub of Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, among sidewalk cafés and boats gleaming in sun-drenched waters, the Silo Hotel rises above the harbor.