REGULARS: THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
W
Investing in diversification
Paragon’s diversification strategy includes
Africa, where a flagship project is Habitat
Apartments in Kilimani, a 24-storey,
160-unit mixed-use apartment tower, in
conjunction with Design Source of Nairobi.
Under development by Ekco Investments,
www.saroofing.co.za
student housing, residential and mixed-use
typologies, which will equip the Cape Town
office to respond to a broad range of client
types and project requirements.
“We look forward to expanding our
portfolio in these niche markets, as well as
the general type of iconic full-service work
that Paragon is renowned for,” founding
director Henning Rasmuss comments.
“We have confirmed sufficient work to
service both existing and future clients in
the Western Cape region, who have all
expressed a desire for us to have a presence
in the region,” founding director Anthony
Orelowitz adds.
Expanding to new heights
ith its design roots harking back
to October 1997, the Paragon
Group has matured into an
internationally-active design business
responsible for delivering commercial
architecture, masterplanning, interior
design and space planning to visionary
clients in all property sectors, from retail to
residential and education.
Well-known for its work in the
redevelopment of the Sandton business and
financial precinct in Johannesburg, Paragon
has widely been recognised in recent
months – the company won Architecture
Firm of the Year and Best Overall
Professional Services Firm of the Year.
Paragon also scooped two major awards
in the Commercial Office Development
category at the South African Property
Owners Association (SAPOA) Property
Development Awards for Innovative
Excellence. In addition, Paragon founding
director Henning Rasmuss was crowned
Architecture Professional of the Year at the
South African Professional Services (SAPSA)
Awards 2018.
Group company Paragon Interface, which
oversees interior architecture services
under director Claire D’Adorante, was
responsible for the fit-out of Discovery
Campus and Sasol Place, two of the biggest
projects of their kind ever undertaken in
South Africa. Paragon Interface was also
declared Office Design Winner for
1 Discovery Place in Sandton at the
prestigious SBID International Design
Awards 2018, held at the Dorchester Hotel
in the UK.
Group company Paragon Architects South
Africa (PASA), under director Thulani
Sibande, was awarded a Level 1 Broad-
Based Black Economic Empowerment
(B-BBEE) rating for 2018. PASA has played
an important role in the rejuvenation of the
Johannesburg inner city with its conversion
of the former ANC Shell House headquarters
at 51 Plein Street into a 563-unit residential
development for client HCI Properties, part
of Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI).
140 West was overall winner in the
Commercial Office Development category
at the 2018 SAPOA Awards.
the project is scheduled for completion by
mid-2020.
Part of Paragon’s diversification strategy
has seen it recently complete its first
project at Pran Boulevard in Umhlanga,
KwaZulu-Natal. This strategy has since
extended to setting up shop in Cape Town
– demand from clients in the Western Cape,
combined with an uptick in the region’s
building and construction industry, has
resulted in the architecture and interior
architecture company finally opening a
Cape Town office at the V&A Waterfront in
January 2019.
“While Johannesburg and Cape Town are
essentially similar markets, our Western
Cape clients have long requested us to have
a permanent presence in the region,”
Paragon media manager Hugh Fraser
elaborates.
He continues, “The Cape Town office is a
logical extension of our footprint, as many
of our current Johannesburg clients have
projects on the go in the Western Cape that
we can piggyback on. All our clients, no
matter where they are located, can rest
assured of the same high level of service,
innovation and attention to detail.”
The new Cape Town office, the first
branch that Paragon has established
outside of its Johannesburg head office,
will be headed up by up-and-coming
architect Jarred Pincus, under the guidance
of director Estelle Meiring. Pincus has
extensive experience in warehousing,
Paragon is currently heavily involved with
the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ’s)
Graduate School of Architecture (GSA). Here
its architects deliver guest lectures, among
other support activities. “Paragon looks
forward to increasing its educational
support in the Western Cape as part of its
ongoing corporate social responsibility
initiatives,” says Fraser.
This is the youngest architecture
department in South Africa, having grown
from 76 students in 2016 to an anticipated
115 in 2018. Here the Paragon Group has
Visiting Professorship status, with
experienced staff members presenting
guest lectures.
Sibande says the next step is to focus on
schools in rural areas. “We are looking to
target learners from Grade 10, as by Grade
12 they should largely have made up their
minds about their future career paths. We
need to make learners not only aware of the
importance of architecture in society, but
how it is a perfect combination of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) subjects.”
In 2019, PASA aims to invite select groups
of learners from various schools to a guided
tour of the Paragon head office in
Johannesburg, where they can experience
first-hand how an architecture and interior
architecture group functions on a
daily basis.
“It is also important that learners become
aware of major architectural trends such as
the debate around building efficiencies and
the advent of Building Information
Modelling (BIM), and how this is
revolutionising the design space,”
concludes Sibande.
CLADDING // CONCRETE // INSULATION // STEEL // THATCH // TIMBER // TRANSLUCENT // WATERPROOFING // COMPONENTS
JAN - FEB 2019
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