Proposed Facilities on the Summit

 Together with Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill form the backdrop of the amphitheatre which embraces the city of Cape Town and Table Bay. This unique configuration has enchanted voyagers and travellers from all over the world for centuries.  The famous skyline is an immensely valuable asset to South Africa and forms one of the most spectacular vistas in the world, so the challenge is to develop Signal Hill in a manner which will maintain and preserve this skyline for current and future generations.

 Present use patterns confirm the importance and value of Signal Hill to Cape residents, visitors and international tourists alike.  Visitor numbers are high (over 500.000 annually) and can be expected to increase.  The resulting environmental degradation of the site should be contained and reversed.  Equally, security problems must be addressed.  Evaluation of the use patterns indicates the need to protect this environmentally sensitive location which can be achieved by the management and control of visitor movements and the provision of appropriate facilities.  These will include:

• The Restaurant

The underground restaurant, designed by renowned architect Gabriel Fagan will have panoramic views of the distant Hottentot Holland mountains, Tableview and Robben Island.

Clients arriving by car or cable way will enter this facility from the rear. Immediately through the entrance is a tourist information centre and toilet facilities. Next, shops selling a range of souvenirs and essentials. The corridor widens to introduce visitors to the restaurant and café area. These eateries share a  floor to ceiling window that allows visitors to enjoy these spectacular views while having snacks or a more comprehensive ala carte meal. The window glass is non reflective and is interspaced with doors that allow access onto the veranda area. This area allows visitors to eat outside.

Below the veranda the old road is now a grass path with benches and picnic areas. The access road that  once blighted the hill with windscreen reflections has been re-routed to the rear of the site.

To build the restaurant a large plug of earth would be removed from the summit of the hill. This earth would then be used to infill the old summit road and recap the hill once the restaurant is built. The contour line of the summit would remain largely unchanged.

 

• Cable Car Upper Station

The cable car upper station is incorporated into the side/rear area of the restaurant complex and allows direct access to arriving and departing clients. A car/chair will leave this station approximately every 15 seconds. Visitors arriving by cableway can either exit to the luge track, to the restaurant, cafeteria area or to the rear car park

• The upper luge station.

This area is next to the upper cable car station.

• Walkways /picnic spots/access

Access to the hill would remain free for everyone.  All walkways, paths and picnic sites would be maintained to allow all visitors to enjoy the site. Paths through the forest would be renovated and repaired and new picnic and viewing sites opened up.

• The Old Road

The existing road feeding traffic to the summit car park would be re routed into the rear of the car park. The summit road would then be removed and the terrace on which it sits would be in filled, landscaped and planted with indigenous vegetation. This area would allow walkers to circle the hill and gain access to the restaurant terrace.


 

• Visual Impact

The only part of the restaurant externally visible would be the terrace and glass frontage. However due to the angle of the slope almost none of this area would be visible from the city. All glass would be non reflective and tinted.

• Environmental Impact

As can be seen from New Zealand the environmental impact is minimal. In the case of Signal Hill we believe that this project will have major environmental benefits. The summit of the hill is presently blighted by the summit road, appalling mobile  toilets and a telephone radio mast. Car windscreens reflect sunlight through much of the year and lights can be seen skirting the hill at night. This proposal does away with all these things.

Photos     |             Aerial Photos       |        Concept Diagram