Its Official – The CTICC Expo Centre is expanding

March 31, 2011
11:15 am
liam

Update: The images below are not the correct renders. The images below show an older proposal to use the Customs House site

Thanks to FutureCapeTown for clarifying as below

“It will occupy the Naspers Parking site, with the exhibition area and Hotel and Hospital and retail component, while Founders Garden will be wrapped with a residential component and the new hotel. The Artscape will also be upgraded”

New images to follow soon

Liam

The following information was issued by the Communication Department, City of Cape Town

At a joint press conference today, the CTICC, the City of Cape Town and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape announced that funding has been secured from all three parties to expand the CTICC eastwards. The expansion of the convention centre will also include 10 000 square metres of retail space, a hospital, an office tower, numerous basement parking bays, as well as the regeneration of Founder’s Garden by the Province, which will connect the Artscape precinct with the new, larger CTICC.

CTICC Chief Executive Officer, Rashid Toefy says that there is a strong business case for the expansion. This development will unlock construction and development opportunities in the precinct of over R 4. 5 billion, which will have a multiplier effect on the economy. The expansion is set to create a “convention precinct” and will contribute to the creation of more than 8000 jobs annually by 2018, enhancing the economic spinoff of the centre.

…a recent feasibility report from the University of Cape Town showed that the centre’s contribution to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was expected to increase from R 2.3bn currently to more than R 5.1bn per annum with the expansion.

Having seen what the original CTICC did for Cape Towns (and South Africa’s) economy it made sense that an expansion was due. What wasnt known is just how this was going to be achieved. So the fact that the plan involves creating a Convention District is bold, but also brilliant. The original CTICC single handedly sorted out Cape Towns “off-season” tourism numbers. And in fact you would be hard pressed to know it was winter in Cape Town in June and July with the number of foreign delegates visiting. (aside from the coolish weather of course)

Cape Town is possibly the worlds most desirable conference destinations for the type of events hosted at the CTICC. It has long been known that the current venue was too small to compete for the truly large shows (such as Tourism Indaba). The expansion may or may not create enough space to challenge for these events but we do know that if the capacity is at least doubled it can host far more and far larger exhibitions.

The CTICC in its current form is the best run and in my humble opinion the best venue in Southern Africa for hosting top-level business conferences. It has its moments, but overall there is no compare in my book.

This is a good view from the seaside

The expansion will form part of a larger Cape Town urban regeneration project. The project will see 10 000m2 of retail space , a hospital and increased parking added to the complex. What is also particularly pleasing is that part of the renewal includes the Artscape building which has been a neglected feature of Cape Town for years now. Bringing a rejuvenated Artscape into the Convention District will greatly increase its accessibility as well as functionality.

The Skybridge from CTICC to the new CTICC

The site is the Old Customs house. A very enviro friendly building is planned with photovoltaic glass to capture the sun energy, grassed roof, chimneys to allow for natural air flow, wind turbines to harness the wind…sounds great.

Please just make loading access to the halls easy chaps 🙂

There is a great piece of footage showing the design concept here at Reality Zone Reality Zone have been onboard with the CTICC since the planning of the original and all images here are from their website