A time-capsule reflection from our Chairman, Derick Henstra, on the studio’s founding principles, why rigour in our work is important, and why long-term views of the future guide the studio today.‍

A few years ago, I was asked ‘what’s the secret sauce behind dhk’s success?’ The question gave me a moment to look back to our early beginnings as a single entity and to reflect on our path to where we are now, nearly 30 years later.

I answered the question in a short piece, set out below, which encapsulated the intention and essence behind what we were trying to build from day one.

I read it again at the start of this year, which will be a significant year of growth for our studio. It still resonates. It reinforces the core principles that have underpinned our progress since day one: be consistently creative, build strong relationships, have a clear vision, and, above all, commit to deliver, every time.

dhk is formed from a unique blend of design talent, commercial strategy, technical expertise and a long-range view of the future. This combination has been deliberately refined through the years as we have expanded into a leading design force in South Africa with growing influence on the global architectural stage. Our work expresses a quiet confidence in its aesthetic philosophy and quality. But it is the practice DNA that makes that result possible.

Back in 1998, Paul Krynauw, who was a Partner at KCvR, approached me at Derick Henstra Architects (DHA) with a proposal to merge the two studios. At the time, DHA had a team of 40 people, while KCvR had around 14. When Paul made the proposal, his firm had recently lost a few partners, and he felt a merger with us at DHA would be beneficial. We had a few notches in our proverbial belts, each with some completed buildings standing proud on Cape Town’s streets. But we were ambitious, hungry, and ready to take on the city’s architectural establishment, head on. Over six months, we negotiated a merger between the two firms, culminating in the creation of the brand that remains as solid today as it was back then: dhk Architects.

But dhk is about more than me or that original group of partners from the late nineties. When we started out, we knew we needed to build for the long-haul, deliberately designing the practice so that it could continue beyond our lifetimes. From early on, we began to plan our succession. We have trained and taught the younger partners in the practice, nurturing them to become confident leaders; the best in the business. This is our indelible blueprint, developed and strategised over the years and embedded into our management philosophy.

Today, dhk is a sound, commercially savvy business built daily by a team of skilled practitioners who are each highly competent in design and with proven execution capabilities. I still love being deeply involved in the studio’s daily design output. Our MD Renske Haller and seven other Partners lead dhk’s team across two offices, supported by the management team of directors, senior associates and associates, and the technical production, communications, BIM, 3d Visualisation and administrative support teams. We are multi-skilled and multi-talented, with architects, urban designers and interior designers co-located under one roof. We work faster, with more accuracy. Our team is diverse. We have a strong design ethos and work ethic. We are industry leaders in design, but we are also recognised for our abilities to make those designs perform technically. This expertise shows in our portfolio of hundreds of buildings completed over time, and currently at multiple stages of design development, delivered in the US and Europe, across 18 different countries in Africa, and in the Middle East.

And, so, what’s next? In the immediate future, we continue to be focused on growing our studio, growing our team, portfolio and reputation. But as we were back in 1998, we’re still in the long game. One day, far into the future, when I choose to put away my pencil, I’ll do so knowing that the dhk DNA will be carried into the next generation of architects, urban designers and interior designers, shaped by what has gone before, and ready to influence what is yet to come. And we’re looking forward to writing the next chapter in our history together.