Adaptive reuse is the pinnacle of architectural acts of transformation, turning a building that once housed industrial machines to one that houses people and ideas. With this second lease on life, the buildings take on a new purpose to serve the public. Below are two divergent high-profile adaptive-reuse projects often referenced in architectural Circles; Zeitz MOCAA (Thomas Heatherwick / Heatherwick Studio — Cape Town, South Africa) and the museum formerly known as MOCCA (now MOCA Toronto) and its move into the Tower Automotive Building (architectsAlliance / ERA Architects — Toronto, Canada). I examined the old site context, the demand of its new use, as well as the architectural and design philosophy and how the methods and tools used in the version help extend their continued impacts.

Zeitz MOCAA — carving a museum out of a silo (Cape Town)

The old site & context

Zeitz MOCAA used to be a 1920s grain silo complex at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront —the city’s largest shopping district near the old port. When the silo was decommissioned in the 21st century, the museum was converted into a massive infrastructure that adorns the new harbor front as Africa's largest museum of Contemporary Art. (Zeitz MOCAA)

Why build the museum here?

Converting a practical industrial building into a museum captures the collective memory of the city and maximizes the utilitarian value. At the harbor front, the intersection of the old and the new, the museum is both a testament to the past but also a beacon for the future and African culture. (Zeitz MOCAA)

The architect & design philosophy

Thomas Heatherwick (Heatherwick Studio)is a Renaissance man. His studio focused on making material expansion and spatial exploration over historicist restoration. His work often intersects sculpture, engineering and architecture. Eccentric, playful, and intentionally unique, Heatherwick’s work is truly one of a kind. However, the Zeitz was his first museum project in Africa, and he took both archaeological and sculptural approach to it.

Intentionality — what they wanted to do and why

Heatherwick approached the project by carving out a new interior inside the silo. This way, his team could preserve the historical fabric while making a dramatic public interior with an atrium reminiscent of a cathedral and an interlocking gallery that still reminds visitors of the original purpose of the building. The spacious rooms in the interior not only provides the artpieces many modalities of display but also celebrate the original silo’s volumetric presence.

Step-by-step (what they actually did)

Survey, mapping and preservation strategy.

Structural engineers and the design team (Arup and Sutherland are listed as structural/M&E engineers) surveyed the existing silos to protect the weakness in the wall because in some parts, the wall could be brittle and dangerous.

Create the composite “sleeves” (reinforced concrete liners).

Each existing concrete tube was partially lined with a new reinforced concrete sleeve; the new composite thickness was about 420 mm in places. Those sleeves did two jobs: stabilize and stiffen the old tubes to take new loads, and provide a predictable, safe surface and datum to guide where cuts could be made. In short: reinforce first, carve second.

Lay out the carving geometry — digital and physical tools.

Using a conceptually simple but narratively rich device, the studio cut out a layout in the shape of a grain of corn. On site the layout was checked and transferred to the concrete (reports mention mapping with nails and traditional site surveying) so the cutting crews had a clear guide for removal.

Precision cutting of massive concrete tubes.

With the sleeves in place and geometry set, contractors used heavy-duty concrete cutting tools — large diamond-blade saws and similar precision cutters — to remove selected sections of the old concrete cylinder walls. (Popular coverage and construction films show large circular saw rigs and wire saws being used; project writeups describe the cutting as “carving”.) Crews removed whole vertical sections to gradually open the central atrium.

Structural integration & finishing.

After removal, the cut edges were finished: many edges were polished to reveal the aggregate and create a tactile contrast with rougher, exposed concrete; some openings were capped with large laminated glass panels (6-metre diameter glazed panels are mentioned in several accounts) to bring daylight into the atrium while protecting the interiors. The new concrete sleeves and remaining cylinder stubs were tied together structurally to form a safe composite shell around inserted “white-cube” galleries.

Systems, galleries and conservation fit-out.

Behind the dramatic carved atrium is a conventional museum installation: inserted gallery boxes with museum-grade environmental control (HVAC, humidity control), circulation (stairs, lifts), and services, all coordinated so the heritage fabric remains legible while art spaces meet conservation standards. Arup and Solution Station handled M&E and sustainability engineering.

Tools, teams and trades (who and what)

Engineering / client / contractor: structural engineering by Arup / Sutherland; main contractor listed as WBHO (project fact sheets). Project management and executive architecture included Mace and local executive architects.
Cutting tools: large diamond blade saw rigs, wire saws and heavy cutting equipment to remove cylindrical concrete sections safely and with precision. Film footage and construction articles document teams using mechanized cutting rigs and controlled demolition techniques rather than brute demolition.
Finishing tools: concrete grinders and polishers (for exposed/polished cut edges), formwork and concrete pumps for the sleeves, laminated glass fabrication for the large atrium panels, and standard museum-fit-out trades (HVAC, acoustic treatments, lighting, security).

Key technical risks they managed

Thin brittle historic concrete: existing tubes were thin (≈170 mm) and could crack or spall — hence the decision to sleeve and reinforce before cutting.
Controlling debris & dust during cutting to prevent damage to interiors and surrounding V&A Waterfront area — managed by staged cutting and containment.
Integrating museum environmental control into a carved historic shell — required careful M&E design (Arup / Solution Station) so galleries meet typical museum humidity/temperature specs without damaging the historic fabric.

How they did it — methods, tools and craft

Heatherwick and his team reinforced the existing silo with their new concrete “sleeves” to create a more stable composite and cut out part of the cylindrical concrete tubes to create more space. The voids inside were sculpted with careful cutting and polishing touches. For this the studio described this process as “part deconstruction, part archaeology”. The studio explained how they leveraged technology to scan a single grain of corn and scaled up the geometry to inform the organic shape carved into the atrium that is a constant reminder of the building’s past function. Construction crews used large saws and cut equipment to remove concrete tubes; the edges were polished to show the industrial surface and refined openings. The result was a contradiction and poetic in its combination of industrial surfaces and openings. The geodesic and faceted windows allowed refracted daylight without having to resign the structure to a more generic glazed insertion.

Impact today

Zeitz MOCAA opened in 2017 in its new reincarnation, and immediately garnered international acclaim as an example of an expressive case of successive adaptive resume. Not only is it an urban landmark it also set the example of how to change monolithic industrial structures to create civic interiors. The project boosted the visibility of contemporary African art and constituted a case study on adaptive carvings and material intervention.

From Grain to Gallery: Two Different Stories of Adaptive Reuse — Zeitz MOCAA