Meet the Architect | A+ Architects
Come and meet the impressive director of A+ Architects, Gawie Roux. His work includes designing the Apollo Air (PTY) LTD (Warehouse) and New Superman (Church), which featured a unique architectural design brief.
Gawie Roux is the director and principal architect of A+ Architects, a young architecture studio based in Durbanville. “We started in 2016 with smaller scale commissions that dramatically changed over the past couple of years, and in 2019 we finished our largest project to date, the New Superman and Apollo Air building next to the R300, which has a combined total floor area of 5950 m2”.
A+ Architects serve a broad range of clients. As seen in their work, they serve the needs of a broad spectrum of individuals and enterprises.
“We have been fortunate to have received a variety of commissions from various building sectors over the past couple of years. We have completed several bespoke residences for private clients together with a large indoor play centre at Haasendal Gables shopping centre for the Playalot group. We were responsible for the renovation of the restaurant kitchen at Leopard’s Leap Vineyards in Franschhoek and the design of our second church building commission”. Gawie Roux
Apollo Air and New Superman
The Apollo Air (Warehouse) and New Superman (Church) project is an excellent example of what can happen when people come together.
“The two clients bought the land simultaneously with the idea to develop it together to share some of the construction costs between them. They approached me before purchasing the land, so I could advise them on some key aspects such as how to place the buildings, deal with access and parking, potentially save money by sharing the costs, etc. In some parts, it was quite a challenge working on a project with two separate clients with two different design briefs, but in other aspects, it made it a lot easier.”
The New Superman client wanted to create a custom-built headquarters from where they manage all their various operations from. The design brief called for constructing a state-of-the-art 1000-seater “cinema-style” auditorium where they could have church meetings. It had to have a large foyer area, sufficient bathrooms, a broadcasting room for streaming services to viewing centers, and adequate storage areas close to the auditorium. In addition to the auditorium, the building had to accommodate several classrooms for the children’s church, a bookshop and coffee shop, recording studios, and an office component where the staff could work from. So, it was a relatively large and complex brief that had to be accommodated in a relatively small footprint because the parking requirements for such a building meant that half of the property had to be used for parking.
In contrast to the New Superman client, the Apollo Air client had a much simpler brief. They required a large warehouse area to store and service large air conditioning plant equipment. The brief also called for an office component to set up their headquarters and operations. It had to accommodate their various departments and some individual offices for the senior management.” Gawie Roux
Apollo Air and New Superman
Collaborating with LEMCO from the project’s design phase allows us to add our expertise in value engineering a structural steel design.
“Our introduction to LEMCO came via the client who had been on the lookout for a steel contractor for the project.
We worked with LEMCO from the design phase through to the construction on site. It was a real joy having them on board, and their team was extremely helpful and accommodating, from the engineers in the office to the guys on site doing the installation. They are reliable professionals who take pride in their work. I will gladly work with Lemco again. The success of any project depends largely on the teamwork between the various contractors and consultants, and LEMCO has been a great team player.” Gawie Roux
A+ Architects is a design studio with a passion for architecture. They believe that great design is the result of both smart thinking and a positive attitude.
Planning and design are the backbones of every project, and successful projects depend on collaboration.