profile: coa
FEATURE Architect profile
south africa-based craft of architecture recently celebrated their 10th anniversary
FOUNDING Partners: JOHN VAN WYK, IAN GRAY & MICHAL KORYCKI 76
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FEATURE Architect profile COA, who have just celebrated their 10 year anniversary, are an award winning architecture company founded in 2006 by partners Ian Gray, John van Wyk and Michal Korycki with current offices in Cape Town and Durban and a global portfolio. Can you give us a history of the practice?
Ian Gray, John van Wyk and Michal Korycki are the founders of Craft of Architecture (COA). Having spent four years together working on large scale projects in the Middle East, they set about moulding a practice concentrating on work in Southern Africa. By melding the vast experience gained in delivering massive projects abroad, with a desire to be more personal and creative in their approach, COA now delivers simple, creative solutions for both small and large projects and prides itself on their intellectual capability to produce innovative and sustainable ideas and solutions, encompassing all building types. Current projects include a vast portfolio, ranging from master planning & urban design, single and multi residential, hotels and lodges, commercial and mixed use, Interiors and brand architecture, retirement estates, educational & sports facilities as well as bridges & infrastructure. Projects span over many countries including Bahrain, Oman, Andora, Italy, Lebanon, Nigeria, Mozambique, Angola, Mauritius, Seychelles, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Kingdom and the USA. They have offices in both Cape Town and Durban and currently employ more than 30 architects, designers and planners with a more recently added interior design arm. They share a belief of craft filtering down to the last degree; from concept to final product. It is this ‘hands on approach’ that is evident in everything they do. Valuing the creative process above all else places a strong emphasis on a collaborative approach. All of this is made possible by the smart, imaginative minds of their design teams, supported by a strong professional organisation, enabling projects to flow smoothly and timeously.
Umhlanga Arch, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
John van Wyk: John holds a Bacheor Degree in Architecture from the University of Port Elizabeth and is registered with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession. He has over 20 yrs experience in commercial, resort and high end residential development. Prior to establishing COA, his previous experience was gained as a Professional Associate at a large leading architectural practice in Durban. Thereafter, he assisted in the set up, and was Director of A J Architects, a practice involved in designing large scale, multi-million dollar projects in the Middle East focusing on Bahrain and Oman. Ian Gray: Ian has over 20 years experience working as an architect since graduating from the University of Port Elizabeth. He is registered with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession and has lived and worked as an architect in London, the Caribbean, San Francisco and the Middle East where he gained valuable global architectural design experience before ultimately establishing COA in 2006.
Montenegro Private Villas, Montenegro
Michal Korycki: Michal completed the Bachelor of Architecture (ADV) Degree at the University of Kwazula Natal. Since then he worked as a concept architect with several architectural companies in Durban before moving to Cape Town where he then worked on large scale projects in the Middle East as a senior design architect. Michal was integral to setting up COA with particular focus on the conceptual discipline and ethos of the practice. What do you believe differentiates your work from other practices?
• We invest enormous care and thought into each and every project and pay firm attention to our client’s brief. • Our firm includes many relatively young Architects who bring a fresh approach to create the right vision for a project • We invest in technology and streamlining the production with BIM systems, which leaves the team more time to focus on better solutions, thus ensuring that the practice remains a market leader. • We love and are passionate about design and architecture and really care in making these buildings right. • We have many years of experience in the management team, from all over the world, which allows us to provide practical and sensible solutions. 78 africandesignmagazine.com
Red Bull, Cape Town, South Africa
FEATURE Architect profile What about African design inspires you?
It has a free approach without as many ‘rules’ as other first world countries. The designs are diverse and includes elements of the blended melting pot of our many cultures. There are often sets of circumstances and diverse influences that we need to pay attention to, political, social, climatic, which produces individuality and excitement at the design phase. Much African design incorporates a rawness and edginess that most others do not. Where do you see African architecture going in the next decade?
Va m iz iI sl an d, M oz am bi qu e
We see, moving forward, that much thought and solution based ideas will need to focus around integration. The need to desegregate the different wealth sectors and combine them into residential and mixed use developments. We forecast that there will be tighter regulations imposed which will incorporate the requirements for lower cost segments within new developments to ensure affordability for all sectors living and working in those areas. We envisage the 3d print world becoming more user friendly to designers and utilized more within the built environment. Not only will this be applied for upmarket products like the hotel industry, where rooms can be reproduced by print and visually stacked on one another, but hopefully also used to successfully create housing designs. With 3d visualization and BIM modelling becoming more and more sophisticated, we will see better thought-out and resolved structures being built, meaning that ideas are thought of and resolved before they hit the construction stage resulting in better builds. With Africa struggling with on going servicing of the major cities, we see sustainability becoming crucially important, with more and more people and developers insisting their projects and homes are able to function off the grid. What do you have in store for the next twelve months?
A large portion of the office is very involved with the Umhlanga Arch project currently about to be constructed and we are looking forward to seeing Ocean Dune and Pebble Beach apartments coming out of the ground in KZN and ensuring that the actual built product matches the original vision we conceptualised. Another one of our residential projects, Mykonos Marina, which comprises 25 luxury units on the West Coast, will be completed early this year with tenants moving in as we speak. We are also very much looking forward to working with the Hilton Hotel Group to realise one of their new visions.
Re tir em en tE st at e, S. A
With the interior component of our business reaching its 5th year, we are looking forward to launching our furniture range. This range comprises a mixed blend of styles, interpreting the various environments we are working within currently around the globe. We will also be launching a furniture range, exclusive to the retirement community, which has been designed to ergonomically suit the elderly.
To ka iH ea lth ca re
COA will be moving into our own new space, large enough to house our growing staff and also showcase our new furniture range. As the Durban office grows, we are looking at moving into new office space there too. We are looking forward to delivering on the housing estates we are busy with in Cape Town and Durban, namely Applegarth Estate which are 30 homes located in Hout Bay and Oceans Edge which are 32 new apartments in Zimbali. Internationally, we will be visiting San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua this year, where we are designing a hotel and Club on the beach. We are also currently working with Seattle Coffee Company to re-interpret their brand to produce innovative stores around South Africa, as well as continuing to play in the International competition arena.
Click here to read about COA’s favourite projects
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