Battery Park is a 12000 sqm (1.2 hectare) urban park situated at a key entranceway to one ofAfrica’s most visited tourist destinations, the V&A Waterfront in CapeTown, South Africa. The brief from our clients, the V&A Waterfront, was tocreate a publicly accessible park which lies at the nexus of multiple newpedestrian routes, stitching the new district into the surrounding urban fabricand helping to invigorate the area. The park forms part of an urban designframework we created for the V&A Waterfront’s previously under-used CanalDistrict. In 2024, work commenced on 5 Dock Road, a luxury residentialdevelopment, which completes the masterplan vision.

The projectcomprises a park and piazza constructed over a 1 206-bay parking facility. Newpedestrian routes have reinvigorated the precinct with activity of park users,office workers and passing pedestrian traffic. The site is of archaeologicalimportance: it contains the remnants of the Amsterdam Battery, a coastalfortification that is one of the oldest structures in the city. This provided aunique opportunity for us to pay homage to the historic landmark while providinga contemporary public leisure space and parking facilities.

dhk’s response hascreated a new hub of activity within the V&A Waterfront. It has preservedthe heritage of the Amsterdam Battery, once a place of exclusion andincarceration, and transformed it into a public space designed to support andengage the greater Cape Town community.

Historical datumsrevealed through archaeological excavations were used to inform the design. Wemaintained the historical courtyard level for the raised park, demarcated byplanted edges above the new retail piazza, to represent the estimated naturalground level that fronted the battery. Other architectural and landscapedelements reflect the structure’s original footprint, such as semi-circularcurved pathways, concrete additions to the rear ramparts, splayed canal-facingwalls and concrete-clad structures. This was done to give visitors an authenticsense of the battery’s former size. An axial visual connection to Cape Town’sNoon Gun on Signal Hill was retained to preserve the site’s historic sightline.

A precast concretepanel structure – dubbed the interpretation pavilion – was built to theestimated height of the battery’s original walls. This links the park, piazzaand parking facility via internal elevators. The interpretation paviliondisplays historic cannons from Amsterdam Battery, thanks to research by theCannon Association of South Africa. These were found scattered throughout the V&A Waterfront and preserved as part of the project’s historical reference. Three small openings form part of the structure’s canal-facing wall to resemblecannon embrasures.