Construction World November 2017

PROJECTS & CONTRACTS

HERE and NOW Construction World spoke to Henning Ras- muss, one of the two founding partners of the Paragon Group, about the compa- ny’s successes, its design philosophy, and why talking about a South African design style goes against the grain of architecture as transcending cultural and national differences.

Style is an end result – it should not be a starting point.

‘Paragon’, which means ‘Model of Excellence’, is quite an audacious name for a company. “But over the last 20 years, we have made every effort to fill those large shoes … and we have reasonably often got things right on the excellence front,” says Henning Rasmuss. The modern Paragon Group was established in October 1997 by Anthony Orelowitz and Henning Rasmuss, who were involved jointly in two projects in early 1997. Rasmuss then had a stint in Hong Kong for six months, with the concept of Paragon germinating upon his return to South Africa. The end result was a growing stream of larger commissions from early 2000 onwards for private unlisted property funds. The group has grown since both by acquisition and organic growth, adding a highly-successful interior design component as well along the way, together with an empowerment company. “In an African context, we are one of the largest design businesses, with a team of over 120 people in three business units. We have completed projects in 22 countries on the continent, including tough markets such as Angola, and in Brazil, and have built projects in 13 countries outside of our home market,” explains Rasmuss. “We are now establishing both a Cape Town and an Indian office, and are exploring opportunities in the GCC region. “We offer clients deep experience gained over 15 years. We offer

passion, patience, and a business approach that bases projects in economic reality. We offer transparency and clear communication, and efficient and compact planning,” Rasmuss elaborates. Timing is everything As in life, half of business is timing, while the other half is hard work. “Paragon was founded under a more stable, less cyclical economy, and in a context when many of our competitors and contemporaries were relocating. It was a unique time to advance quickly,” Rasmuss explains. “The late 1990s and early 2000s were an enabling time, with a high level of trust in young people and their abilities. A good part of our success lies in the specialist property finance training and experience and networks of Orelowitz, who gave early clients commercial confidence that other architects could not emulate easily,” Rasmuss adds. As with many successful businesses, the founding partners had different skills and personalities, which gave the burgeoning Paragon Group a wider reach and a good network and sphere of influence. “Importantly, we have always been generalists by approach, and we have built deep skills bases right from the founding partners to our team members. We have never been afraid, and we have seldom said ‘no’, even to unusual opportunities. This has resulted in our rapid

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD NOVEMBER 2017