In conversation with dhk Founding Partner Peter Fehrsen and dhk Partner Martin Lardner-Burke

28 July 2024

Interviewed by Tony Korsten, Publisher for Asset Magazine 
Written by Ana Lorton

When Martin Lardner-Burke, senior associate of dhk Architects in Johannesburg, was appointed as Partner at the multidisciplinary, design-led studio in April, Asset was invited to meet him together with dhk Founding Partner, Peter Fehrsen. The meeting got underway with an ‘imagine if….’ moment from two seasoned architects, both of whom are fascinated by Johannesburg.

For Peter, a born and bred Capetonian who studied architecture at UCT and was Principal Design Partner at KCvR Architects before co-founding dhk Architects with Derick Henstra in 1998, the fascination with the city developed over time. Martin, who grew up in Johannesburg, and has lived in both Cape Town and the UK, makes no bones about the fact that he is delighted to be back there.

“I’m very passionate about it – the red earth, the people, the climate. Just imagine what could be achieved if the management of the city was what it should be,” he says, while Peter adds: “It’s a truly African city. It has a grittiness to it. The market is tough and demanding. It works at pace which you must respond to, and has an underbelly which I find absolutely fascinating. It also has the potential to act as a giant springboard for the most wonderful development if city governance and municipal services are taken in hand.”

New studio leads
Peter was a founding Partner when Derick Henstra Architects and KCvR merged in 1998. He initially worked on a small number of Johannesburg projects “at a distance” while still based in Cape Town, until dhk won a competition in the early 2000s to design Phase 2 of Melrose Arch. The win prompted the decision to open an office in Johannesburg.

New local clients soon came calling. Today dhk has a growing number of significant projects in its
Johannesburg portfolio, including Newtown Junction, Oxford Parks Masterplan, 6 Parks Boulevard (for Arup), 203 Oxford (for Life Healthcare), Radisson Red in Oxford Parks, as well as residential work for
Tricolt Group at Ellipse in Waterfall City, Brookfield at the Royal Golf Club, and Tree Tops in Houghton.

The practice is also working with Attacq – who are JV partners with Tricolt on Ellipse – on the urban design masterplan and residential projects on site and in gestation at Waterfall City. Growthpoint and Hyprop are other local clients, for whom the practice is developing schemes for high-rise projects in Waterfall City and Sandton and retail opportunities respectively.

“The calibre and quantity of work we have been appointed to do is an acknowledgement of the contribution we are making to the city’s built environment,” says Peter. He started to commute to the Johannesburg studio in early 2000, and, after he and management decided that the team needed a Partner in place, he relocated to be there full time in 2013. Martin made the same move in 2020, strategically strengthening the Johannesburg leadership team. “Martin brings a wealth of experience
and quickly became an indispensable part of our team. Now, with his promotion to Partner, we have a great platform for strategic growth of the Joburg studio,” says Peter.

Martin had joined dhk in Cape Town in 2017 after completing his Master’s Degree at Cambridge University and spending some time with another practice. In Cape Town he worked on Battery Park, a 12,000m² urban park situated at the V&A Waterfront, and 32 Napier Street which comprises 19 high-end residential apartments. He was also integrally involved in the development of the Old Cape Quarter in De Waterkant – a neighbourhood which dates back to the 18th century – where dhk’s Cape Town office is situated.

During his time in the UK he deepened his knowledge of environmental and international design, winning several awards, including RIBA’s Best Educational Building and Best Environmental Sustainable University Building. On his return to South Africa he worked on No. 1 Silo at the V&A Waterfront, which was the first building in SA to achieve a level 6 Green Star rating for both design and as-built.

The Johannesburg market
When the Covid-19 lockdowns struck, Peter and Martin stayed with their families in Cape Town. They relocated to Johannesburg again, as soon as restrictions were lifted.

“One of the positive outcomes of such a distressing time was that Covid forced us to work in the ether,” Martin comments, “and helped us to understand how to work as a team although we were not physically together. We learnt an enormous amount and realised that we have the flexibility to expand and contract on different projects. But we believe in building a studio environment, where collaboration and connection enhances the creative process.” The studio now hosts 20+ people.

While the challenges of working in Johannesburg are well-known, the studio’s clients are generally adept at knowing how to get their projects over the line. In many cases it’s not red tape which causes delays, says Peter, but getting the financial models to work so that projects can get off the ground. The office market remains challenging, and while the residential rental market is strong, sales need to be driven by well-targeted marketing campaigns

“Alongside hospitality, the residential market is driving a great deal of our business but we’re also looking further afield in order to keep a full pipeline.” The practice is now expanding into Africa, and Johannesburg is the perfect springboard for access to the continent. “We’re currently busy with a hotel in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, we’ve secured a high-rise residential project in Accra, Ghana, and we’re exploring opportunities in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania,” says Peter.

Diversifying into new sector markets both locally and internationally lends flexibility as well as stability to the practice. “We’ve developed a very strong track-record in residential work, and will continue to be very active in the sector,” Martin tells Asset. “At the same time our areas of specialisation are extending and we have the ability to move fast on new projects. Our staff complement is growing on the back of a good flow of work here in Johannesburg, in Africa, and in the Middle East. We’re pitching actively in the healthcare and education sectors, and are developing our skills in procuring government work.”

Two cities, one studio
dhk’s Cape Town studio works closely with its Johannesburg counterpart. “Despite the geographical separation, we operate as one studio,” says Peter. “There’s good cross-pollination, and the full staff complement of 130 people makes it easy to recruit additional skills, as we’ve needed to do on our work in the Middle East, for example. The other strength which our co-operation with Cape Town lends us is our ability to source widely when we’re bidding on a project.”

Both studios have developed full BIM capabilities and have a research and development team assessing how best to make use of AI as a tool. “You avoid it at your peril, but can’t let it rule you,” Martin cautions. It delivers results fast but will have to be harnessed appropriately as a tool if it is to help rather than hinder.

“One of the ways in which we’ve found it can be helpful is in allowing it to optioneer, rather than assuming it will think for you. If, for example, a client feels a façade we’ve designed is a bit hard, we instruct AI to give us ten options for softening it.

“We’ll select a few of these to present to the client, indicating which ones we feel are a good direction to follow, and ask for input so that we can progress. If you can use it in ways like these, it can prove valuable. This is how we advise the tech-savvy young talent coming into the practice.”

Studio culture
It’s in dhk’s DNA to impart knowledge and mentor architectural graduates who join the studio, in addition to helping them to manage their expectations of the profession. For Peter and Martin, welcoming them into the studio culture, encouraging them to sketch as much as possible – “drawing boards were our happy space when we started out in the profession” – and keeping model-building skills alive and well, are important elements in assimilating new members of the dhk team.

“We believe in the studio culture, and we want our team to be here physically. You need to be part of the unique studio dynamic. It’s a powerful way and means of being exposed to interesting conversations; it provides situational awareness of solutions, fresh ideas, alternative ways of doing things. It’s an invaluable learning space,” Peter says.

Retaining talent and managing expectactions go hand in hand in many instances. Although Peter and Martin have found the Johannesburg industry friendly and ready to collaborate, everyone wants to procure work, and salary levels need to be maintained if you don’t want to lose staff. “We want to be successful but not avaricious,” Martin says. “We’re trying to get clients to realise that if you don’t pay appropriately for what you’re getting, you’ll end up with a toothless industry.”

“We have to hold ourselves to a bar of excellence, maintain high health and safety standards, put checks and balances in place, and that comes with a cost. Developers are slowly realising that there must be a balance between what we deliver and what we earn. Our purpose is to produce buildings that last, and which are safe. If we’re serious about our city and this country, we must be serious about the brick and mortar.”

A vast urban canvas
As confirmed urbanists, the Johannesburg studio leads are always alert to precinct and urban design projects.

Johannesburg presents a vast canvas for such work, with its space, old buildings and the untapped potential of mixed-use developments and adaptive re-use opportunities. “Urban design is a core element of dhk, and all our precinct work starts with an urban design master plan. We’d love to work downtown in the city, applying our ‘big thinking’ to the creation of liveable, walkable environments. If the city management provided support on the peripheries, so that we didn’t have to guard the ramparts, we could do something extraordinary,” Martin says.

With a studio founded on a deep-rooted love of architecture, a commitment to the highest standards of work and a desire to produce great architecture wherever projects take them, dhk in Johannesburg is riding high. And so it should be. Apart from anything else, there’s an entire city on its doorstep, waiting to be brought to life.