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THE largest free standing ice lounge in the world has arrived at Cape Town's V&A Waterfront and is set to open its chilly doors to the public on 3 November.'

Located between Musica Megastore and The Cape Grace Hotel in a giant white marquee for four months, Ice Lounge is set to become a Cape Town novelty attracting people from all over the country. Everything in Ice Lounge is made of ice ? from the walls and pillars, to the benches and seats, the bar, the kiddies' slide, sculptures, even the glasses people will drink out will all be made of ice.

James Cussen, one of the three owners of the South African company, Thor Ice, describes the venue as a gallery experience for families and tourists by day and a transformed unique cocktail bar by night. Here people can party the night away thanks to the installation of state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment.

On arrival guests will receive ponchos, as the average temperature inside is between -5 and -10 degrees Celsius.

They will also be able to take a five minute tour of the construction process by means of an audiovisual presentation in the warm-up external cocktail area of the marquee.

Cussen explained that the idea stemmed from the creation of the Ice Hotel in Sweden and similar ice lounges and bars in London, Sydney, Milan and Stockholm.

"Thor Ice have also over the last five years introduced innovative means of branding and product display through ice carving and creative frozen product inserts," says Cussen.

"This experience, coupled with the passion to see our medium being enjoyed to its full capacity, spawned the idea of the construction of the region's first lounge of its kind in the country."

In total 45 tonnes of ice had to be shipped to Cape Town from Canada, with an additional 10 tonnes of ice manufactured locally in order to see the construction of the 20 m x 10 m Ice Lounge through to completion, he says.

He adds that workers have been busy with the construction for the last two months but have only started working on the ice for the last two weeks.

Open daily from 09:30 to 17:30, and 18:00 to 02:00 on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with an entrance fee of R50 for adults during the day, and R35 for children under the age of 13, the Ice Lounge can accommodate 150 people. Entry fee for over 18s after 18:00 will cost R75 per person and will include a complimentary cocktail.

"We think this is a fantastic idea and are very excited about the launch and peoples' reactions, as it is something unique for this neck of the woods," says Cussen.

He says even though it is only for a four to six month period, the Ice Lounge will be an annual event with each year bringing different and new ideas.

Tickets can be pre-booked through Computicket and enquiries about corporate bookings can be e-mailed to icelounge@echopr.co.za.

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