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Lead Architects Team

Profile

Lead Architects is a small Durban firm started in 1998 by Amanda Lead who has well over 20 years’ experience. Our team are involved in a broad range of projects – educational, religious and community projects; heritage and conservation work; masterplanning; houses and additions; alterations to existing buildings. Lead Architects is a dynamic, decentralized practice which values the individual within the team. The team consists of full-time and part-time employees, as well as specialists (urban design; landscape architect) who collaborate with us on specific projects. Our projects are spread across the greater eThekwini area, south to the Hibiscus coast, inland to the Natal Midlands and up the North coast. That said, we are open to working anywhere and have been involved in projects as far afield as Ghana.

Our Approach

Our work is process-driven and our designs are underpinned by rigorous research, user-participation, contextual analyses and thorough consideration of impacts which ensures that the final product is purpose and people-orientated as well as environmentally-sensitive. The sensual experience of space through play of natural light, connections to nature, material and volume is integral to our work and something our clients always appreciate. This combination of intellectual and practical process and the pursuit of good design is where our passion lies. Simple, clean-lined buildings that have a refined measure of texture and warmth through material variation are the result of our work.

We nurture good relationships with our clients and take our responsibility in terms of design and delivery very seriously.  Our core philosophies include user participation, holistic decision-making, bioclimatic, minimal-impact design and clear communication. We believe that everyone has the right to access sound infrastructure planning and good design, even those with significant financial constraints. Through our work we are exposed to a vast contrast in living, working and learning conditions and it is our mission to improve the human experience wherever we can. Read more about why to choose an architect.

Services & Systems

Lead Architects offer standard, partial and specialist architectural services (master-planning, heritage architecture) as per the Government Board Notice. Our fees are calculated using the latest Government Gazette. However, we do discount our fees and adjust the scope of work specifically where organisations have limited funding and work in disadvantaged communities.

Our company uses a combination of hand drawing, Revit, AutoCAD and Sketchup Pro, as well as physical models, to communicate our designs to clients and effectively interface with allied professionals and contractors.