2006 South Africa Institute of Architecture - Merit Award (in association)

2005 Cape Institute of Architectural - Merit Award (in association)

The international convention centre needed to be large enough to accommodate plenary sessions of thousands of delegates, as well as trade exhibitions such as motor shows, while providing all the attendant breakaway and meeting rooms, auditoria, banqueting halls, kitchens, bathrooms and so on. Yet to succeed on an operational level it also had to have facilities that can comfortably cater for smaller functions such as weddings, product launches and cultural events.

The architects kept these requirements in mind, by opening up the design on this large, inhospitable and, in many ways, tricky site. Wide entrances were incorporated which have the effect of opening up to invite the city and its people into the space. Another inclusive aspect of the design was the creation of an encompassing new public space. Called Convention Square, this space brings focus to the comings and goings of the Roggebaai Canal, where both the main entrance of the CTICC and that of the Arabella Sheraton Grand Hotel are situated. The Roggebaai Canal extends from Convention Square, the important public space where various modes of transport intersect, to the Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront. It therefore serves as a visible umbilical link between the city and the sea.