Design 360 Architects mordernising Botswana since 2008
Starting a business, making it sustainable and eventually profitable, is not for the faint-hearted. A lot of courage and consistency is needed. This perhaps best fits the story of Design 360 Architects, which was formed from humble beginnings way back in 2008, just before the world recession hit.
“Design 360 Architects is one of the fastest growing architectural firms in Botswana,” Keorapetse Tshupelo declares this week. The citizen-owned company provides a range of services such as architecture, project management and interior design for large and small corporates, as well as individuals.
“Design 360 Architects has vast experience in a variety of project portfolios especially in the private sector,” a confident Tshupelo, who is also a shareholder in the company, states. Botswana, a developing economy, is currently experiencing a wave of construction activities, both by the public and the private sector. This trend has similarly attracted more and more architectural firms, in the process increasing competition.
However, Tshupelo is not worried by this, as they have a watertight strategy in place. “Design 360 Architects makes all their designs to be emotionally attached to their clients by providing bespoke designs and astute professionalism,” he shares, adding that they also have strong strategic planning and well-thought-out design briefs and coordination of projects. The company is well aware of the negative impact that climate change is having on the environment. “All our designs are premised on green building principles that are geared towards conservation, low energy designs and a harmonised indoor environment. We achieve that by working in collaboration with other team members,” Tshupelo, who is also the chairperson of Business Botswana’s sub-committee on built-environment and construction, explained.
In the past, the company worked with companies such as Debswana, First National Bank Botswana,
Chobe Design and Construction Industry Trade Fund among others.
Tshupelo speaks highly of diamond mining giants, Debswana. “They have set high standards for suppliers. This helps us to be innovative and competitive all the time,” Tshupelo, a qualified architect trained at the Leeds Beckett University, says. The company has plans to expand outside Botswana in future.
The Design 360 director believes in capacity development. “Design 360 Architects is always on a mission to develop young talent through our graduate training programme. We believe the future is capacity-building for the best of our practice. We would like to develop more talent, get new projects, and collaborate more even with well-renowned international consultants,” he concludes in this short interview with Sun Sparkle.
The company’s growth was aided by their enrolment in the Tokafala Enterprise Development Programme, whose capacity-building programme helped the company gain access to markets in both Debswana and the private sector.