Nhloso Nzimande, a Professional Senior Architectural Technologist, joined our team in June 2014. His time with dhk has been a journey through his career and through the country: he’s worked in our offices in Gqeberha (now closed), Cape Town and Johannesburg. We caught up with him to hear more about his time at the studio.
Please tell us a bit about your professional background and how you started at dhk?
I studied architecture at the Durban University of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Architectural Technology. Some may not know this, but dhk used to have an office in Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape, when we were working on several projects within Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. That's where I started.
The Gqeberha office opened in 2010, but I joined in 2014. My key focus was tenant coordination on Baywest Mall [a 90 000m² super regional mall]. In 2018, I moved to the Cape Town office, and later moved to the Johannesburg office in 2021 where I now work as a Professional Senior Architectural Technologist under the leadership of Peter [Fehrsen, dhk Partner] and Martin's [Lardner-Burke, dhk Partner and Head of the Johannesburg studio].
What are some of the projects you've worked on?
Besides Baywest Mall, I've contributed to smaller but complex buildings like municipal sewer pump rooms and an electrical sub-station for Conradie Park [a 22-hectare mixed-use development] in Cape Town. I also worked on Parklands College in Cape Town, where we expanded the campus to include a new learning and innovation centre dedicated to creating spaces that could facilitate progressive teaching techniques and philosophies.
I’ve also worked on some of our flagship projects in Johannesburg, including Phase One of One Rosebank [a mixed-use development under construction]and Phase 2 and 3 of Ellipse Waterfall [a landmark high-rise luxury apartment development in Waterfall City]. The final tower of Ellipse Waterfall was completed in October 2025, and it's rewarding to have been part of the construction journey which began in 2019.
What are some of your dhk highlights?
Working on Baywest Mall in Gqeberha. It is the largest mall in the Eastern Cape. It was my first time working on a massive project at that scale, and it really set the foundation for my career at dhk.
The Parklands College learning and innovation centre also stands out because I had never worked on a school, let alone an innovation learning centre. It was great being part of that team and seeing what future school design will look like.
Are there any other portfolios or initiatives you're involved with at the studio?
Yes. I'm part of dhk's technical review committee which ensures that everyone in the studio follows the correct dhk standards, to ensure consistent delivery on projects. We also look at how we can improve our workflow by reviewing drawing packages and identifying ways of doing them smarter and faster. It's a great platform as we also get to collaborate with the building information modelling (BIM) team, and benefit from their technical support and training on BIM software and workflows.
How would you sum up your 12 years at dhk?
It's been a stimulating experience filled with lots of learning opportunities, and it's been great to work on several large-scale projects.
