Class Act

EF Education First recently unveiled its new language school at the V&A Waterfront, which has been designed to capture the vibrant, cosmopolitan energy of Cape Town through a bold, colour-driven interior.

WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Paris Brummer

When EF Education First – the world’s largest privately owned education company – relocated its language school from Kloof Street to a modern office building at the V&A Waterfront, the move called for a bold design response.

EF’s in-house Architecture & Design Studio – which brings a contextual design approach that ensures no two schools look the same – was tasked with transforming the interior of the existing building into an environment that fosters creativity and learning, while remaining true to its location.

“A strong use of colour was meant to activate this space, shaking loose any office associations, while alluding to the confluence the Waterfront embodies – a rich mixture of people, languages, buildings, industries, geography coming together to form an incredibly sophisticated and cosmopolitan neighbourhood,” says Philip Iosca, Head of Interior Design, Architecture & Design at EF.

This delicate balance between location-centric design and EF’s global brand values is achieved through careful space planning, ensuring each school’s floor plan is both globally consistent and locally responsive. “A welcoming reception area, a flexible auditorium for learning as well as social events, classrooms with natural light, inviting lounge spaces and, often, a student café in the centre that becomes a kind of ‘heart’ of the school – these have all become standard features of our schools,” says Philip, “but how they are realised – furniture, finishes, and graphics will vary based on each location.”

Material choices were guided by both aesthetics and function. “Good acoustics are one of the most important requirements for language learning,” says Philip. “For Cape Town, we paired custom-painted wood-wool ceilings with cork floors – both selected for their inherent acoustic properties, and both sympathetic to the Cape Town climate.” Glass walls allow natural light to filter deep into the floor plates, while the layout of each classroom follows a C-shaped configuration to facilitate conversation, with tables for spreading out books and comfortable chairs throughout.

Incorporating local designers, artists and makers has always been a core principle of EF’s in-house Architecture & Design Studio. The team selected Cape Town-based Red Nail Design to oversee the fit-out of the space, with furniture locally produced by Coral + Hive, Dokter and Misses, James Mudge, Okha, Pedersen+Lennard, Studio 19 and Voegel Design. “We knew we wanted to curate a selection of these brands and worked to find a cohesive selection aligned with our contextual design approach,” says Philip.

For the project, the team collaborated with Dokter and Misses on bespoke pieces including a ‘Big Five’-inspired reception desk, an animal-print podium, striped banquettes and perforated wall lights. “We were charmed by Dokter and Misses’ disco chair, which was completely delightful, while still referring back to a long tradition of wood chairs – Gerrit Rietveld, Donald Judd, and Enzo Mari, among others. Unlike some of the artist versions, this chair was carefully designed to be comfortable – with a sloped backrest and contoured seat. This attention to detail permeates their collection, which feels singular at a time when products are beginning to be increasingly flattened by social media,” says Philip.

The team approached Dokter and Misses to ask if they would be willing to collaborate – with seemingly impossible timelines and a modest budget – and were thrilled they were up for the challenge. “We gave brief design directions for each item – material, rough dimensions, quantity and references to their work we admired. They did one or two rounds of proposals for each item, where we quickly homed in and agreed on the final designs. We are absolutely thrilled with the results – everything was made locally, fitted within our budget and, most importantly, arrived on time. They absolutely nailed it!” says Philip. ef.com | @ef

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