South African science and research organisation wants to turn its campus into a hotel

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has invited private-sector parties to develop and operate a multi-use hospitality precinct on its campus in Pretoria.

This development will aim to establish an accommodation and hospitality offering alongside the CSIR International Convention Centre (CSIR ICC).

It will be used by conference delegates, visiting researchers and academics, business travellers, institutional visitors, and other guests of the CSIR.

This was revealed in a media statement issued by the CSIR in November 2026, which outlined the state-owned entity’s plans for its Pretoria campus.

The CSIR is a leading scientific and technological research organisation established in 1945.

It was established under the Scientific Research Council Act to develop research and technological innovation that support South African industry and the state.

Its executive authority and shareholder representative is the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, who holds legal, financial, and oversight powers over the CSIR.

The CSIR works across areas such as agriculture, the built environment, chemicals, defence, digital solutions, health, manufacturing, mining, and logistics.

One of the organisation’s greatest achievements was its discovery of key oxide spinel cathode minerals in the 1980s.

This discovery helped make modern rechargeable lithium-ion batteries possible for use in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles.

CSIR researcher Trevor Wadley also invented the tellurometer in the 1950s, marking the world’s first successful microwave electronic distance-measuring equipment.

In 2013, the CSIR’s photonics researchers created the first laser capable of digitally controlling the shape of its beam from inside the device.

This opened new opportunities in the fields of medicine and communications.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the CSIR also played an important role in leading the design and mass production of thousands of non-invasive ventilators in local hospitals.

The CSIR is also one of South Africa’s few state-owned entities to have achieved multiple clean audits.

The CSIR’s hotel plans

The CSIR’s campus in Pretoria, known as Scientia, spans 100 hectares and serves as Africa’s largest central hub for scientific research and development.

The campus houses 50 buildings, some of which contain specialised laboratories, pilot plants, and testing grounds.

On 2 November, the CSIR issued a media statement inviting “suitably experienced and financially capable private-sector parties” to develop a hotel on this campus.

It urged interested parties to express their interest in developing and operating a proposed multi-use hospitality precinct at its Pretoria campus.

“The proposed development aims to establish an integrated accommodation and hospitality offering alongside the CSIR International Convention Centre (CSIR ICC),” it said.

The CSIR ICC was opened in 1977 and has served as the hub for meetings and conventions ever since.

It operates in the international business-events market, with a particular focus on supporting local, national, and regional research, development, innovation and knowledge-sector events.

It also supports international association conferences across a range of industries and sectors.

The ICC’s planned development aims to strengthen the facilities available to conference delegates, visiting researchers and academics, business travellers, institutional visitors, and other CSIR guests.

The organisation said this project will take the form of a Public-Private Partnership and will require an experienced private-sector partner.

This partner will be expected to bring the financial capacity and expertise required to design, finance, construct, operate, and maintain the proposed hospitality facility.

“A key motivation for the development is to provide quality accommodation within walking distance of the CSIR ICC,” the organisation said. 

“While the convention centre currently works with nearby hotels, the proposed development would bring accommodation and related hospitality amenities into the CSIR precinct.”

The group said this development would also strengthen the CSIR ICC’s proposition when competing for conferences and events where convenient access to accommodation is an important consideration.