Rejecting flashy forms in favour of buildings that prioritise integrating with their context, John Wilson-Harris – principal architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects – is an architectural legend in his own right. While touring their enigmatic offices in Cape Town, he spoke to Kara Olivier about his architecture career and why he thinks he will never retire.
“The systems and means in which we conserve [architecture] changes all the time” and that can make restoration work a tricky business, says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects. PHOTO: Kara Olivier
The office of Gabriël Fagan Architects looks much the same as it did when the practice moved to Bree Street in Cape Town during the 1960’s. The building’s uneven painted facade contrasts the slick lines of the office block behind it.
“You get a good feeling about a good building,” says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects. He explains that determining the success of a design is less about what the building looks like and more about how you feel when you interact with it. PHOTO: Kara Olivier
“We should actually put up a sign but perhaps it’s kind of nice that no one knows we are here,” says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects, as he ascends the narrow, wooden staircase to their first floor office.
The office is a strangely tranquil space despite its location on a busy road. Here time seems to stand still – an apt feeling considering the firm’s reputation as one of South Africa’s leaders in heritage architecture.
Like much of Wilson-Harris’ work the space appears to have been there for ages, growing organically in the urban shell of a former warehouse.
John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects, says they were eager to return to their offices in Cape Town after the Coivd-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted. Working in a design studio plays a vital role in his design process, according to Wilson-Harris. PHOTOS: Kara Olivier
A latent love for design
“There are some architects who have been drawing houses since they were six years old,” says Wilson-Harris. “That was not me.”
His interest in architecture took hold in his early high school years after completing a career guidance assignment in grade 9.
“I did the project on architecture as a possible career path. We had to investigate what it required to be an architect,” says Wilson-Harris. Despite being interested in art and design, he wanted to be a geographer at the time, explains Wilson-Harris.
It’s strange but this contrast exists with a lot of architects and architecture. The idea of something being both practical and beautiful.
Like many other architects, his interests and talents are dual in nature, says Wilson-Harris. “Straight forward fine art never occurred to me. I was always more interested in the technical side of design,” says Wilson-Harris.
“It’s strange but this contrast exists within a lot of architects and architecture. The idea of something being both practical and beautiful.”
In 1981 he immigrated to South Africa from his home country Zimbabwe. “I needed to get a job. So, I decided to do a drafting course at the Cape Draft Training Centre,” says Wilson-Harris.
Later that year he got his first job as an architectural draftsman at the Cape Town-based firm, Andrews and Niegeman.
“I was set to sort out their library and what have you. So there I was, this dusty figure that would stagger out of the [records] room at 10:00 for tea.”
According to John Wilson-Harris, principal architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects, he spent more than one night on the single bed hidden under one of the many drafting tables in his early years at the practice. PHOTO: Kara Olivier
After completing his National Diploma in Architecture at the Cape Technikon, Wilson-Harris continued his work for Andrews and Niegeman. “The firm was quite commercial and eventually I found that I was doing a lot of door and window scheduling,” says Wilson-Harris.
“I just thought this actually isn’t for me,” says Wilson-Harris. He then decided to return to Zimbabwe and try his hand at farming. However, on his first weekend back in the country a serendipitous meeting at a dinner party landed him a job at Rob Cobban Architects in Harare.
It was then that Wilson-Harris started working with the many of the methods and materials that he is known for today. “We worked a lot with thatched roofs, rammed earth walls and [sustainable] technologies,” says Wilson-Harris.
Islam Hill Kramat (left), 2018, and Signal Hill Development (centre), 1999, are two of the many scale models displayed in the offices of Gabriël Fagan Architects. Breebloem (right), in Cape Town CBD is one of the firm’s most recent projects, says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director. PHOTOS: Kara Olivier
After returning to South Africa, he completed a three-year bachelor’s degree in Architectural Studies at the University of Cape Town and was faced with the option of completing a practical year.
He explains that he had been a big fan of House Swanepoel, a residential dwelling by renowned South African architect Gawie Fagan. “I thought, if I could get a job working for that really cool guy who did that thatched house in St Francis Bay, then I would choose the practical year,” says Wilson-Harris.
“I walked up the stairs here at the office and I asked for a job.”
“[Gabriël Fagan Architects] are one of those seminal practices we are taught as student architects,” says Marie Snyman, a student at the University of Cape Town currently completing her masters in architecture. PHOTO: Kara Olivier
The annals of architecture
For the next 25 years Wilson-Harris worked alongside Fagan. “He was really quite a guy. Although he was known for restoration work he was a brilliant designer,” says Wilson-Harris. “[Gawie’s] first love was new design.”
On the second floor of their office, the practice’s extensive collection of documentation weighs down on the large bookshelves.
When Wilson-Harris started at Gabriël Fagan Architects in 1997 the idea of restoring heritage buildings was a novel concept, according to Wilson-Harris. “There were these buildings that were falling down and no one really looked after them,” says Wilson-Harris.
“The debate on how a building should be put back together rages on in heritage architecture with not much of an ending in sight,” says Wilson-Harris. He explains that it can be difficult to narrow down what “layer of a building” to use as the reference point for a restoration project.
Some people believe that additions or restorations should be as close to the style of the original building as possible, while others believe what you add or alter has to be clearly distinguishable, according to Wilson-Harris.
“What you actually need to do is [first] have a look at what the hell is there and then make a decision on either or.”
Gabriël Fagan Architects’ Bree Street office is host to an extensive collection of documentation (left) that catalogues their restoration work and other projects throughout the years, says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at the firm. He is currently working on the restoration of a project in Heritage Square in Cape Town. The design process involves analysing the street facade through hand sketches (right) that date back to 1986. PHOTO: Kara Olivier
Today, the majority of his work is restorations and additions to heritage buildings or buildings in a heritage-sensitive environment, as well as new buildings that range from “residential houses to wineries, clinics [and] museums”, according to Wilson-Harris. Contextuality is what underpins his broad scope of work, says Wilson-Harris.
“I suppose I am more a Contextualist than a Regionalist like Gawie.”
The office shelves at Gabriël Fagan Architects feature an assemblage of gifts from previous clients. The clay figure (left) was made for them by a former client after the heritage survey they compiled helped prevent development in Sandy Bay, according to John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects. The canvas (right) above his drafting table was gifted to the practice by members of the NG Kerk Rondebosch after they completed restoration work on the church in 2016, according to Wilson-Harris. PHOTOS: Kara Olivier
The patient process of design
“Getting all the available information together before you put scratches on paper is important,” says Willson-Harris. He explains that this helps him to approach each project without preconceived notions.
“Preconceived notions can be dangerous. It’s not just same old, same old. You have to work with each set of context, climate and people differently in order to look at the design in a holistic way,” says Wilson-Harris. “You steal a little bit from everyone’s plate.”
Once a thorough investigation of the site and context is done, Wilson-Harris starts “investigating the design [and construction] on paper”.
“Unfortunately, we don’t do much of our drafting work by hand anymore,” says Sandra Bodard, an architectural technologist and interior designer at Gabriël Fagan Architects.
“I live for taking the pieces that go into a project into consideration and then making them fit,” says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects.
A life built by design
Coming back down the stairs, Wilson-Harris points out two peculiarities on the landing before leaving. “Gawie designed them. They are quite true to his style,” he explains.
Wilson-Harris draws attention to the hand-crafted wooden postbox on the door. The box is made from raw wood with a simple steel peg that serves as the hinge.
“We don’t actually have a doorbell, so people have started using it as a knocker when they want our attention.”
The wooden post box on the front door was designed by Gawie Fagan, says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects. PHOTO: Kara Olivier
Two wooden boxes on either side of the landing house Fagan’s version of a security system. Wilson-Harris opens the unassuming wooden doors to reveal the two hidden security cameras receded into the walls. Although they are no longer operational, he thinks that “it’s quite a beautiful way to hide something practical.”
The hidden security system on the first-floor landing was designed by Gawie Fagan, says John Wilson-Harris, architect and director at Gabriël Fagan Architects. PHOTO: Kara Olivier
“[In architecture] you never know everything. There is always a surprise around the corner,” says Wilson-Harris. He explains that a career in architecture means that one always continues learning. “Once you stop learning you stagnate.”
[Architecture] is actually just a really cool hobby that happens to be my profession.
According to Wilson-Harris, Fagan famously worked until his mid-nineties before passing away in 2020. “I don’t think I will ever retire,” says Wilson-Harris, when asked if he planned to follow in Fagan’s footsteps.
He views architecture as a “hobby”. “[Architecture] is actually just a really cool hobby that happens to be my profession,” says Wilson-Harris.
“The profession eventually became my lifestyle, my life story.”