OSMOND LANGE ARCHITECTS: Shaping the Next Century
With significant experience across innovation, design, and technology rollout on complex projects around the continent, Osmond Lange Architects is recognised as an industry leader with a glittering project portfolio and an enviable history. Now, the company is looking forward through the eyes of a fresh leadership team that will set the platform for further growth.
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As Osmond Lange Architects approaches its 100th anniversary, the South Africa-based architectural and urban planning practice is entering a new era of growth and evolution. Earlier this year, the company appointed six new Directors – Kay Moodley, Lerato Tsiki, Mike Drewe, Philip du Toit, Avril Paterson, and Derek Rogerson – tasked with carrying the business forward, blending the strength of its legacy with fresh ideas and renewed energy. The move is part of a wider strategic effort to prepare the business for sustained expansion in a changing market.
In June 2016, Enterprise Africa spoke with Osmond Lange Group Managing Director Jonathan Manning about the firm’s successful navigation of industry challenges, including weak economic conditions, public sector budget constraints, and increasing competition. Nine years on, the outlook is markedly different. A combination of geographic expansion, sector diversification, and leadership renewal is positioning Osmond Lange as one of the most dynamic architecture firms in sub-Saharan Africa.
GROWTH AND EVOLUTION
The period since 2016 has been one of deliberate growth. “In 2016, we expanded into the Western Cape,” says Mike Drewe. “Over the past few years, that has grown exponentially. The Western Cape has been such a strong growth point for us, and it was a great time to get that office up and running. It is now our biggest office and continues to expand rapidly.”
Expansion has also been driven by broader demographic trends. Mossel Bay, and the wider Western Cape, has become a hotspot for new residential developments as South Africa’s semigration phenomenon sees people moving from inland cities to coastal towns. According to “We are doing a lot of housing estates and we have a steady pipeline across the province with a number of clients so 2022 saw us further expand our Western Cape reach with our new office in Mossel Bay,” says Drewe.
Today, Osmond Lange operates from two offices in Johannesburg, one each in Durban, East London, Cape Town and Mossel Bay, as well as an international office in Mauritius. “We opened the office, alongside a partner, in Mauritius because we have had number of projects coming through including Smart Cities and mixed-use developments. The economy there is reinventing itself, away from just tourism and much more about financial services and business process outsourcing (BPO). It has been very exciting to see the growth there,” says Drewe.
Internally, the business has evolved into a group structure. “We are a group, we have two sister companies, and we all work very closely together. Ikemeleng Architects has been our partner for many years. In Cape Town, AVNA Architects is also part of the group, and we share leadership and resourcing, and we work very well as a team. In the past year, as we have introduced a new leadership team, there has been overlap across the companies and the result is that we have developed very strongly as the Osmond Lange Group – that gives us a lot of strength and reputation. It also gives us the ability to cover all aspects of all industries and all priorities, servicing them effectively between us,” Drewe explains.
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
The leadership refresh reflects both changing market conditions and the company’s long-term ambitions. “Osmond Lange has an amazing history as one of the oldest architectural firms in the country, reaching its 96 years this year,” says Rogerson. “As we push towards our centenary, the new generation of Directors is very much looking to the future. Covid put a spanner in the works and from 2016 there was a lot of growth and a lot of strategy, but 2020 until 2023 was tough. Now, we see a lot more growth in the industry and a lot more confidence in the market.”
The appointment of six new Directors is significant. “From March 2025, we have appointed six new Directors, and we are tasked with how we reach our centenary and move forward into the next 100 years,” Rogerson adds. “We had six Directors and we have added six new ones, and that is bold. It shows it was the right time and shows the confidence we have in the group, industry, and country. The fresh energy and fresh thinking from a new generation was needed to build on that positivity.”
This mix of legacy and innovation underpins the company’s strategy. “We now have the benefit of history and stability combined with new ideas,” says Drewe. “We don’t want drastic changes, but we will certainly be building on what we have with some minor tweaks. Looking at our efficiencies, looking at technology, adapting what we do, and being strategic around how we mentor our people – that is our focus. As much as we are seeing growth, it is still a tough industry.”
DIVERSE PROJECTS
Osmond Lange continues to balance public and private sector work, from individual residential projects to nationally significant megaprojects. “We are busy with the repair and upgrade of the South African Parliament Old Assembly after the fire in Cape Town. We are one of two architects on that team to drive the full renovation. That is a very demanding project and a very visual project. We recently finished the Transnet head office in Johannesburg and that was an exciting state project that saw us update a 130-year-old building to accommodate a large organisation,” Drewe highlights.
The company’s portfolio spans sectors including transport, education, retail, healthcare and residential. “We developed the Beitbridge Border Post in 2022 and off that there has been strong interest from others in developing border posts,” says Rogerson. “We are looking at a few in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, and if these projects start to materialise it will be one of our biggest sectors. The world is using more copper, lithium and other minerals which come from Southern Africa. The roads, ports, and border posts are in poor shape as they have not been touched in decades. The investors sees a lucrative opportunity, and that feeds into a pipeline for us, again driving confidence.
“We are doing a number of estate developments in the Western Cape, we have a number of retail projects in Gauteng. We recently completed the Bedworth Centre in Vereeniging which was shortlisted for an API Award for Best New Refurbishment. We have recently broken ground on the Fleurhof Mall which is a significant project. Retail has been good and continue to push for growth in that portfolio,” says Drewe. “Universities are also important and showing good growth. We recently finished with a project at the University of Limpopo – the New Earth Sciences Building – which was shortlisted for an API award.”
“We are busy with a second project which is an extension of the library. We have also completed work at the University of Mpumalanga, and we are busy with some master planning for various universities that we hope will turn into build work,” adds Rogerson.
DESIGN AND SUSTAINABILITY
Design quality has, and always will be, an Osmond Lange central pillar. The company is keen to impress the importance of creativity and innovation across all projects. “A lot of the input comes from the client and the client needs to share the vision,” says Rogerson. “We are creative, we want to make beautiful spaces, but often the client wants to max out the available space. However, we are lucky to attract very good clients who are not always just looking at the bottom line. The starting point is trusting us to do what we do. Starting with master planning and being involved early on is very important. This allows us to move towards something that is not just economic and efficient, but also has the human experience at heart.”
Sustainability is also an established and growing focus. “The challenges we have faced as a country with power generation, electricity distribution, potential water problems mean that clients have opened their minds. They realise that we cannot work in the same way as we always have and alternatives are worth exploring,” says Drewe. “Recently, in Mauritius, we achieved LEED Gold Certification for a building in the Moka City development. We are driven and want to aim for these targets, but having the right client on board is key.”
South Africa’s green building market is maturing. The IFC EDGE market maturity sheet reports that certified green buildings accounted for around 7% of new development by area in 2020, with over 7.7 million m² Green Star SA certified. According to trade.gov, 50 certified projects are expected to save 76 million kWh of electricity annually, cutting 115 million kg of CO₂. The rise of green building and resilience planning is also being driven by existing climatic pressures. Research shows sea levels along South Africa’s coast are rising by approximately 6.3 mm per year, almost double the global average. This adds urgency to sustainable planning in coastal regions.
DEEP SA UNDERSTANDING
Longer-term, two key factors reinforce Osmond Lange’s strategy: geographic spread and specialised sectoral expertise. The company boasts a large geographic footprint and experience in delivering large scale projects of all types.
Looking ahead, Osmond Lange is setting ambitious targets. “We do have targets, and an exciting pipeline that can get us there,” explains Lerato Tsiki. “We had very strong revenue in 2025 across the group and we are targeting a 45% increase in the 2026 financial year ending in February. We will look at our position for the 2027 financial year but if we hit all markers, we will need to increase our staff compliment to accommodate.
“2025 was the first year we managed to get back to the pre-Covid numbers. What we are forecasting comes from that confidence we have developed in the past two years. The industry is primed for it as it catches up after a few years of stagnation. We are positive and the bold move of bringing in a new leadership team shows how confident we are in the market and the country,” she adds.
As the company approaches its centenary, the balance between continuity and change is carefully calibrated. With new leadership in place, a diversified project base, and a strategic focus on sustainability and regional growth, Osmond Lange is well-positioned to thrive in the decades ahead.