The Longkloof Precinct project was a complex multidisciplinary adaptive reuse design challenge that creates a meaningful dialogue between heritage and contemporary elements in a sensitive and respectful combination. The 15-year long project comprises the sensitive restoration of five historic buildings and the construction of a new five-star hotel, set within an interconnected landscaped public realm with new street frontage and a new secured yet publicly accessible external space at the heart of the precinct.

The site comprises six separate erven owned by a single owner, with an accumulated site area of 16,500m2, in a transitional location off the edge of the Cape Town CBD. Five original historic buildings of various scales were subject to heritage protections in terms of height, building mass, protected view corridors, façade articulation and materiality. The precinct was landlocked with minimal street frontages and restricted public access to commercial buildings; it had become fragmented, lacking spatial cohesion and connectivity.

The project commenced in 2010, with the original architectural brief to design an office, retail and basement parking proposal on the larger site which included existing surface parking. While this site contained one of the historical buildings, only one wall of that building was deemed worthy of retention. The brief later expanded to individual redevelopment proposals for the other heritage buildings in the precinct. It became clear that there was a need, and an opportunity, to fully integrate all the erven into one cohesive precinct. The precinct-wide urban design approach creates a vibrant publicly accessible environment while respecting heritage indicators and the surrounding context.

The scheme revitalises the existing heritage buildings, upgrading them to premium grade co-working and office spaces. Contemporary additions included additions and partial demolition to existing buildings, excavations to activate existing basement floors and to create activated courtyard spaces, reconfiguring internal spaces into open-plan offices and reinstating ground floor connections between existing buildings and the public realm. The new-build five-star hotel was initially designed and approved as two separate office buildings. This approved scheme was later adapted to hotel use, which required above-ground connection between the two buildings with glass-clad bridges at all four levels. Façades are stepped back away from the street to reduce their scale and to better respond to the surrounding streetscape and the public square. New ground floor retail, restaurants and cafes enliven street edges, pedestrian walkways and new urban square.

The design introduces new pedestrian links into and through the precinct to connect the surrounding public realm into the heart of the new Longkloof precinct. This enhances the quality of the public realm and emphasises pedestrian permeability. Street edges and pedestrian routes are well defined, with canopies or pergolas offering protection in appropriate areas. Access to three levels of basement parking ensures a car-free pedestrian-friendly environment. On site vehicular movement is limited to hotel drop off and intermittent servicing along Jamieson Lane.
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Sean Gibson - Photographer