One of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town has announced plans to redevelop its craft market, according to BusinessDayLive.
The craft market is a venue for outstanding local artists, crafters and designers to get exposure to international tourists and to trade alongside the upscale boutiques and specialty shops of the waterfront mall.
The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront has a mixture of retail, hotel and residential development.
It will spend $5 million doing extensive renovations and refurbishment of the Blue Shed — site of the craft market — to include an adjacent building for additional market space.
The Blue Shed, an enterprise development platform, will undergo exterior redesign over the next six months. Curated craft, design and wellness products will find a home in the new space.
Sections of the V&A have already undergone extensive redevelopment following
the 2011 acquisition of the property by listed property company Growthpoint and the Public Investment Corp.
Enterprise development is key, “not simply because we want to see small businesses grow, but also because we have a vested interest in their success,” said V&A Waterfront CEO David Green, according to BusinessDayLive.
“The Blue Shed offering is one of the distinguishing factors from traditional malls,” Green said. “By curating and celebrating local artists, creators and innovators, we are raising their voices to reach the world.
“We rely on small business to keep visitors coming back by providing the kind of variety, level of craft and inspired design our local and international visitors find so attractive.”
With the incorporation of the existing historical Workshop 17 space, the market will offer more than 1500-square-meters of trading space lit by a 100-meter long skylight.
On the southern facade, looking out over the Robinson Dry Dock and Table Mountain, glass will replaced corrugated sheeting. Brickwork in the gables on the ends of the building will be replaced by translucent sheeting.
A 45-meter mezzanine will be suspended from the roof trusses to form an event space, with public access to viewing decks.
Current tenants will be relocated to a marquee on the North Wharf during the development, Green said.
A curator will work with the V&A to help transform the space into a retail hub “which is a platform for entrepreneurs, innovators and creative thinkers, representing the best of craft and design in Cape Town, South Africa and Africa overall,” he said.
“Small business represents a small percentage of our total business but with this investment we are affirming our belief in the power of creative industries,” Green said.
