With its honeycomb lattice windows reflecting the Atlantic Ocean and the city's landmark Table Mountain, the audacious structure is home to the new Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MoCAA) which opens Friday.
Inside, visitors are greeted by a riotous assault of painted colour, including a portrait of deep greens, explosive reds and shocks of turquoise.
In the centre of the rainbow, a woman sits cross-legged on a wicker peacock chair, her head tilted regally. "Miss Azania" says the sash across her chest, a reference to the historic name for southern Africa.
The artist, Athi-Patra Ruga, likes to think of the woman -- called "Umesiyakazi (Queen) in Waiting"-- as MoCAA's patron saint.
"It's a beautiful thing to see -- to know that my nephews and nieces are gong to be coming through this space and calling me and speaking about my work," said the artist, who describes his style as "the clash between material and memory".
The journey to this week's opening began over a decade ago. The owners of the V&A Waterfront, a popular tourist and shopping destination, sought inspiration from the London-based Heatherwick urban design studio on how to revive a forgotten corner of the harbour.
At stake was the future of a hulking grain elevator made up of 118 separate storage compartments that had long since fallen into disuse and filled with pigeon droppings.
After years of extensive remodelling, the silos themselves are now a piece of art, their bare concrete cylinders contrasting starkly with the geometric, glass-clad office blocks nearby.
