The Architectural Activities and Landscape Architecture Industry in South Africa 2022

Introduction

This report focuses on architectural activities, which depend on the construction industry.

South Africa’s construction industry has been steadily declining since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the pandemic in 2020 resulting in significant further decline due to hard lockdowns. There has since been some recovery. The total value of recorded building plans passed by larger municipalities increased 41.2% to R107bn in 2021, following a decline of 33.5% in 2020. According to the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP), architects reported a decline in income in 2020, with many companies having to retrench employees. Although GlobalData's Construction in South Africa - Key Trends and Opportunities to 2025 (covering 2021 to 2025), reports that the construction industry will recover in 2022, with investment in projects growing at around 9.1%, the latest FNB/Bureau of Economic Research Civil Confidence Index at end-March 2022 showed that business confidence among civil contractors, who typically build government infrastructure and large private capital projects, declined to its lowest level in the first three months of 2022.

Opportunities

Design and development of affordable housing.

Edible landscaping. Green building systems. Rollout of infrastructure development projects in South Africa, and on the African continent.

Outlook

Although government has announced various planned infrastructure projects, implementation of many of these projects have been delayed.

FNB property strategist John Loos said in April 2022 that there are early signs emerging of a slowdown in non-residential building activity, and post-lockdown levels of plans passed remained well-below pre-COVID-19 levels. According to John Drummond, owner of John Drummond Architects Landscape Architects, “with environmental issues becoming increasingly important and the movement towards greener solutions, we can expect the role of landscape architects to continue to grow in use and stature. The profession must, however, ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose. ” Industry professionals will need to acquire new skills and knowledge to ensure efficient business performance and management, especially in the use of building information modelling, and big data solutions.

Report Coverage

This report focuses on architectural activities, including landscaping, and includes information on the industry and the construction industry on which it depends, the types of architects and practices, salaries, projects, and influencing factors including environmental factors and technology.

There are profiles of 25 companies including architectural practices AMA, A3, Paragon and DHK, and landscape architects such as Insite and Newtown Landscape Architects.

Strengths

Construction is a key driver of socioeconomic development.

South African architects are leading in Africa with sustainable building designs.

Threats

Construction mafia.

Delayed implementation of large projects and/or the failure to implement proposed public sector infrastructure development projects. Increasing operating costs.

Weaknesses

Companies cannot afford to mentor graduates. Corruption. Long lead times for projects. Newly qualified architectural graduates cannot find work.