Anyone driving down Leith Road or Trichardts Road, past Bartlett Lake Office Park, will have noticed the extensive building work currently being undertaken at Capsicum Culinary Studio’s Boksburg campus. We caught up with the head of campus, Kemi Odubajo, to find out what’s going on…

What building is taking place at the campus?

We are having massive renovations and extensions done to our existing buildings. The first step in this process is to make the best of what’s available and maximise the use of existing space. The infrastructure upgrades have been carefully crafted with specific modern designs and layouts tailored to suit the needs of our students and staff. Once completed, the campus will have more classrooms and kitchen work stations, and its capacity will be increased by 70%. There will also be more student recreational areas within and outside of campus. These will greatly improve the quality of service to our students and the efficiency of staff.

What has been considered when pre-planning in terms of the environmental impact, sustainability, materials used etc?

The ADvTECH group is aware of the growing concerns around climate change. and recognise its responsibility to develop responsible citizens and leaders of the future. We are encouraged by the traction gained in our Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) initiative and believe that our greatest impact lies in embedding ESG principles within our education offerings, curricula, projects, and initiatives. Capsicum believes that education must be transformed to respond to global environmental challenges within the food and hospitality industry. This enables our students to use their education for sustainability, as a service to communities and a commitment to both people and planet.

Did any students or staff have input into the new plans?

Though widely diverse, the common thread with the students is that they demand more of the college experience than any preceding generation. Capsicum has a strong belief in the importance of student and staff engagement and seeks to create an atmosphere of inclusion. Also, as more learning continues to occur outside the classroom, we aim to harness social learning by providing an environment conducive to increased interaction.

Simple multiple surveys were conducted with staff and students and their input provided insight about priorities and needs which established a solid foundation for this project.

Will the “new” campus accommodate more students?

In line with our long-term strategic goals, our campus expansion project was undertaken to accommodate comfortably the needs of our students at its current student population, but more so to accommodate the consistently growing demands for good quality culinary tuition experience as well as in anticipation of possible future needs. The project also includes two buildings which will be merged into one and expanded, which will increase the physical size of the campus.

What will the renovations and extensions add to the students’ experience? 

Our new learning spaces will allow students to have access to the highest quality culinary educational services, which will help to ensure that Capsicum achieves its goal of becoming an internationally recognised culinary school. It will be a hub of creativity and innovation and a home to some of the brightest minds in the culinary industry.

When is completion expected?

All going well and according to plan, building is due to be completed by mid-March.