Strong design and impeccable delivery – these are two of the guiding principles for Vivid Architects, an award-winning architecture firm based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Since 1998, Vivid has been helping to shape the landscape of South Africa, with a focus on medium to large scale commercial architecture. Over the course of 27 years in business, the company has left its mark on a wide range of projects, including offices, retail, apartments, hotels, hospitality, mixed-use buildings, and urban design.
One of Vivid’s strengths is the company’s ability to look beyond a single project and view it as part of a much larger picture. This not only relates to aesthetic considerations, but also environmental factors.
“Anyone can plonk a building on a given site, but we deliver projects that are suited to their context,” says Vivid Director & Partner Nic Cloete. “We’re very conscious of a building’s landscape and the environment it sits within as a whole.”
This attention to detail is particularly useful as sustainability becomes non-negotiable in the design and construction of many modern structures. Committed to a sustainable built environment, Vivid encourages its clients to achieve a minimum Green Building Council (GBCSA) 4 star, or similar, for their buildings.
“Sustainability has become more and more important to our clients and many of our buildings hold environmental certifications,” Nic reveals. “Though each project is different with varying restraints, we try to make our buildings as sustainable as possible. It means we consider everything, from the materials we use to best practices, and even simple things like positioning a building with the right aspect to the sun.”
Every project Vivid works on is different, and as such, each has a huge range of varying demands and requirements. In order to deliver buildings that inspire pride in all parties, the company has long believed that close collaboration, both internally and externally, is the best recipe for results.
“We are a team-based practice that believes in the power of collaborative design and delivery,” says Nic. “From the onset of every development we do, we work closely with our clients and collaborate with them to find the best solution for that site. While every project must make financial sense, it also needs to look amazing, and strong co-operation between us and the client helps deliver that balance.”
Vivid brings the personal touch to each of its projects with the help of a small, tight workforce. Just 35-strong, the team benefits from the expertise of long-tenured staff, as well as the enthusiasm and new ideas of apprentices and interns.
“We’re very fortunate to have a lot of staff who have been with us for a long time. That is something very important to us. The architecture business does have its highs and lows, but keeping the same core group in the long-term means we can count on them to produce accurate information and reliable work – especially at crunch times, when the pressure is really on.
“That being said,” Nic adds, “we do employ architectural interns and put those that show promise through university. It helps us give a little back, but also, ideally, they come back and continue their careers with us when they’ve earned their degrees.”
In a quickly evolving industry, Vivid provides continuous professional development for its staff, ensuring they are trained in the latest technologies and practices. Equally, staff are aware that the structure of the business is fluid, and that their hard work will be rewarded.
“The three founding partners recently took me on as a fourth partner, and we’ve got some young directors and associates who have worked their way up through the business,” Nic states. “This is not a one-generation business. We’re looking to evolve and get more people involved.”
As it grows, Vivid is taking on more major projects. Alongside large retail and mixed-use developments, the company has recently been involved with the urban planning and master planning of several precincts in the Western Cape.
“Precinct planning involves the design of a precinct, followed by development of the architecture for that precinct,” says Nic. “We’re very proud of those Cape Town precincts we’ve planned and especially the buildings we designed within them because that’s where we have the biggest impact on people – how that space gets used and by whom.”
Going forward, Vivid aims to stay a midsize firm focused on the accuracy, detail, and quality for which it has become known. Leveraging its good reputation, the company looks to embrace the youth in its ranks, optimise its use of technology, and establish a steady pipeline of business it can be passionate about.
“We’ve got some clients we’ve had for twenty years, and we would love to keep doing business with them, but it all comes down to the opportunity,” Nic concludes. “We’ve been very fortunate over the last twenty-seven years to have put together so many great buildings, but without our clients, we never could have done that.
“Ultimately, we want to keep producing buildings that both we and our clients are happy with. To help with that, we will bring the next generation to a point where they can lead us forward, and improve our use of technology so we can remain nimble. We just want to keep producing beautiful buildings that have an impact on people every day.”
