Mather & Co works on South African rugby museum

The consultancy is developing designs that will tell the story of rugby in South Africa, and touch on its links to politics and national identity, with sections, for example, on black rugby history in the country.

Mather & Co was appointed to work on the project at the start of the year, and selected over South African and international consultancies.

It has been tasked with developing a new ‘home’ for South African rugby, on Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront.

The new museum will replace what Andy Colquhoun, general manager of corporate affairs at SARU, describes as ‘a small-scale tired and dated museum’.

The new museum, which will be set in a two-storey standalone building, will feature a retail area and an interactive game zone on the ground floor.

Visitors will be able to pass and kick rugby balls, and use their tickets to record their scores.

The first-floor area will be devoted entirely to the museum, and will feature displays looking at how rugby spread throughout South Africa, as well as a section on the Apartheid era and its effect on the game.

Sarah Clarke, Mather & Co designer on the project, says, ‘Rugby is a very important part of South Africa, almost like a religion.’

The museum will also feature a match centre with player statistics, so that players can be compared with each other.

The new museum is set to open in Cape Town in September.