The Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof is expected to become a South African landmark. 

earth retention at longkloof precinct in the western cape

The project

Construction of the Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof hotel, a 150 guestroom building.

Located close to Cape Town’s historical epicentre, the Gardens Suburb, the project gives new shine to the 112-year-old heritage site, Longkloof Studios. 

The project entailed the construction of a two-level basement with depth up to 10m, as well as relocating services – most notably a 250mm diameter sewer pipe and 1050mm diameter stormwater pipe, among others. 

The challenge

The services had to be relocated in close proximity to a busy road, which made the execution of that particular task challenging. This was exacerbated by having to relocate and deal with live electrical cables in the process.

With the prime Longkloof redevelopment project located right in the middle of a historic urban quarter with existing neighbourhoods, managing noise and dust pollution from breaking rock was a major challenge. 

Below the clayey silt sand – approximately 1,5m below ground level – was the Malmesbury bedrock, which turned out to be slightly weathered to unweathered. A total of 24000m³ of material was ultimately removed from the site.

Breaking the 70 MPa rock on site also made it difficult to stick to production targets. 

The solution

The project included rock breaking, façade protection, demolishing of the building, salvage of items, the relocation of services and the construction of the lateral support works.

The basement comprised 2130m² of lateral support, had 23 corners within it and was surrounded by some notable heritage buildings, which meant that it was not your typical rectangular or square-shaped basement. 

The façade of the 100-year old heritage building needed to be protected with a steel structure that was supported on piles.

Project facts

Owner(s)

Growthpoint Properties

Keller business unit(s)

Keller South Africa

Main contractor(s)

Isipani Construction

Engineer(s)

LH Consulting Engineers