Walters & Cohen picked for South African school expansion

Walters & Cohen Architects has been appointed to design a campus expansion for the Somerset College independent school in Cape Town.

The practice was originally hired to create a masterplan aimed at driving cross-curricular project-based learning for the South African institution.

It said the process underscored that the school needed new accommodation for its science, technology, engineering, art and maths teaching – as well as flexible space for activities designed to foster enterprise.

Walters & Cohen said its gable-roofed proposals gave the building generous volume and incorporated skylights as well as photovoltaic panels to harvest energy. The building also exploits its site to create an outdoor amphitheatre stair.

Director Michál Cohen said the project was “a truly exciting opportunity” for the practice.

“Not only are we creating a stimulating new learning environment for the pupils, but a destination on the campus, bringing together the prep and senior school sites on this wonderful estate,” she said.

The school, which was founded in 1997, is co-educational and charges fees of up to £12,000 a year for boarders.