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DMV Architecture

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DMV Architecture

Multi-award winning and innovative architectural firm. ANYWHERE YOU NEED US! 2017 SAIA-EC Regional Award winners in architecture.
(1)

https://www.dmvarchitecture.co.za/awards

Our Architecture is rooted in modernist planning principles but is expressed in a timeless aesthetic.

29/05/2026

𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘆: 𝗔 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

Over the coming weeks, DMV Architecture will be embarking on a series of speculative design explorations that revisit sites, landmarks, and forgotten spaces across Nelson Mandela Bay.

This is not a proposal, development, or project in progress. It is a creative exercise in asking what if? What could these places become if architecture, urban design, and strategic thinking were used to unlock their potential?

Along the way, we'll explore a question that many residents have likely asked themselves:
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗵 (𝗚𝗾𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮) 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀?

Through a combination of experimental design tools and architectural thinking, we will reimagine catalyst projects that could stimulate tourism, investment, public engagement, and renewed pride in our city.

We've already identified a number of sites, but we'd love to hear from you. Which buildings, spaces, or areas around Nelson Mandela Bay would you like to see reimagined? Some places carry rich history. Others simply represent untapped opportunity. While these concepts may never be built, the value lies in exploring the possibilities and starting a conversation about the future of our Bay.

Because architecture has always been about more than buildings. It is about possibility.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

27/05/2026

Creating more than just an entertainment extension, this project was envisioned as a private retreat tucked within the client’s existing home and garden. The intention was to craft an oasis-like environment where architecture, landscape, and lifestyle merge seamlessly into one immersive experience.

The extension was carefully designed as a fully functional living environment rather than simply an add on entertainment space. A generous open plan kitchen anchors the pavilion, supported by dining and lounge areas that spill out toward the pool and whirlpool bath. Large openings dissolve the threshold between inside and outside, allowing the space to function as a continuous outdoor living experience centred around relaxation, connection, and retreat.

A key part of the brief was flexibility. While the space currently functions as an entertainment pavilion, it was intentionally designed to allow for future transformation into a second dwelling if required. The planning, amenities, and spatial arrangement were all carefully considered to accommodate this adaptability without compromising the overall experience of the architecture today.

The journey through the space was equally important. A winding pathway leads from the existing home through layered planting and flowering gardens before crossing a floating walkway over the pool, creating a gradual sense of escape within the client’s own back garden.

The result is a calm, resort-like sanctuary designed around lifestyle, flexibility, and the feeling of being transported somewhere far beyond home.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

25/05/2026

Continuing the exploration of how architecture can shape the public experience within urban commercial environments.

These perspectives begin to unpack the atmosphere created at street level through scale, materiality, movement, and activation. The architecture moves beyond the idea of a standalone commercial building and instead starts contributing towards a more connected and engaging urban fabric.

Softened forms, layered landscaping, active edges, and pedestrian focused spaces work together to create an environment that feels welcoming, walkable, and alive throughout the day. The relationship between people, movement, and the built form becomes just as important as the architecture itself.

At its best, urban commercial architecture should not only accommodate activity, but encourage it.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

22/05/2026

Knock knock…
It’s Jono.

Unfortunately, not at the right door. 🚪

The K**b of the Week officially goes to Jonathan… for confidently starting a site measure at the wrong house in St Francis Bay.

After accessing the property, unpacking equipment and getting started, a telecon with Sarah quickly revealed one small issue…

Wrong house. Wrong keys. 😮

Following a strategic retreat and recovery mission to collect the correct keys, Jonathan eventually made his way to the actual site to begin measuring the correct house.

In the spirit of accountability, teamwork, and making sure everyone double checks the erf number before entering a property, we proudly hand over the k**b. 😂

Anywhere you need us.
Preferably at the right address.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

21/05/2026

The Grand Comoros continues to take shape in the heart of St Francis Bay. 🌊

Designed as a large scale life stage development, the project brings together over 130 residential units, a clubhouse, and integrated medical facilities into a carefully considered community environment.

From above, the scale of the development starts to reveal itself. Streets, landscaped spaces and architecture work together to create a neighbourhood that feels connected to the greater St Francis Bay context, while still establishing its own identity.

A key focus throughout the design process was ensuring the development remained true to the iconic architectural language of St Francis Bay. Pitched roof forms, white façades and a restrained material palette allow the development to settle naturally into its coastal surroundings while maintaining a timeless character.

More than just housing, The Grand Comoros is about shaping a lifestyle environment through considered urban planning and architecture.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

20/05/2026

Project 239 explores the idea of the veranda not as an addition to the home, but as an architectural device woven into the entire spatial experience. Rather than treating the veranda as a traditional edge condition, the design integrates it directly into the planning and sectional composition of the house, allowing interior and exterior spaces to blur into one another.

The sectional studies reveal how the home steps and folds around this concept. Deep overhangs, layered thresholds and interconnected roof forms work together to create sheltered transitional spaces that respond directly to the South African climate. The veranda becomes both environmental response and spatial connector, tempering harsh sunlight, encouraging natural ventilation and creating moments of pause between enclosed and open living.

The axonometric drawing further unpacks this thought process, illustrating how the home is effectively organised beneath a unifying roof structure, with the veranda acting as the thread that ties the various living components together. Spaces extend outward beneath protected edges, allowing circulation and daily living to flow naturally beyond the confines of the internal envelope.

At Project 239, the veranda is not simply a covered outdoor space. It becomes the conceptual heart of the architecture, shaping movement, framing views and establishing a layered relationship between home, climate and landscape.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

18/05/2026

Set amongst the citrus orchards of the Sundays River Valley, this new DMV Architecture design project explores the traditional farmhouse through a contemporary lens.

Designed to endure those scorching Kirkwood and Addo summers, the home is wrapped in a generous veranda that draws directly from the language of traditional South African farm architecture. More than a stylistic gesture, the veranda acts as a climatic buffer between the harsh external environment and the internal living spaces, creating continuous shade around the home to reduce direct solar heat gain and assist in naturally cooling the interiors.

The project explores how traditional architectural principles can be reinterpreted in a contemporary way. Before artificial cooling systems existed, verandas played a critical role in shaping homes that responded intelligently to climate through shade, ventilation and protection from the elements. This design revisits those principles through proportion, orientation and passive environmental response, resulting in an architecture shaped as much by sun, wind and landscape as by occupation itself.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

15/05/2026

Designed as a floating pavilion within the natural landscape of Paradise Beach, this concept explores how architecture can feel light on the land while still making a bold architectural statement. By lifting the entire home onto the first floor, the design maximises expansive views across the surrounding landscape while reducing the visual and physical footprint on the site below.

A single mono pitched roof anchors the composition, creating a clean and efficient architectural form that helps simplify construction and keep building costs controlled. Rather than overcomplicating the structure, the design embraces restraint, allowing proportion, structure, and materiality to become the defining features of the home.

The architecture draws strongly from a contemporary industrial language, with exposed steel elements, expressed structure, and large cantilevered forms giving the home its distinct identity. The result is a home that feels as though it hovers above the landscape, open, lightweight, and intentionally connected to its surroundings while confidently embracing a contemporary industrial aesthetic.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

13/05/2026

At its core, the Pearson Cricket Centre of Excellence needed to be highly functional. An indoor cricket facility naturally leans toward a warehouse style structure due to the scale and openness required for the sport.

But we could not let the building be just that.

The design introduces architectural moments that bring character to the structure. From the strong entrance form and layered material palette to the rhythm of the circular louvres. The green and dark brick finishes were intentionally selected to tie directly into Pearson’s school colours, allowing the building to feel like a natural extension of the campus rather than a standalone addition.

A practical building by necessity, but one with identity, presence, and personality. 🏏

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

11/05/2026

Pezula Private Estate 🌿

Letting the site speak to the architecture.

This new home design responds directly to its setting, shaped by the contours, outlooks and natural character of the estate.

With expansive views as the focal point, the architecture opens outward, framing the landscape while creating a home that feels grounded, considered and connected to place.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

08/05/2026

Exploring urban intervention through architecture that actively engages with the public realm.

Street edge commercial developments have the ability to shape far more than just the buildings themselves. They influence how people move through a space, how the street is experienced, and how the city begins to function at a human level. Rather than creating isolated buildings, the intention is to create an urban environment that encourages connection, interaction, and activity.

The design approach focuses heavily on the relationship between the building and the street. Activated ground floor edges, transparent facades, landscaped thresholds, outdoor seating, and pedestrian focused movement all contribute towards creating a more porous and connected urban experience. The boundary between inside and outside becomes softer, allowing the public realm to feel integrated into the architecture itself.

The design concept explores curved forms, layered materiality, strong horizontal lines, and façade modulation to create rhythm and movement along the streetscape. The softer geometry helps break down the scale of the development while contributing to a more inviting and human centred experience within a dense urban environment.

Commercial developments have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the city around them. When considered carefully, architecture becomes more than just built form. It becomes a framework for public life, movement, and shared experience.

💥𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘒

Address

Unit 7/The 1054, 254 Main Road, Walmer
Port Elizabeth
6001

Opening Hours

Monday	07:30 - 16:30
Tuesday	07:30 - 16:30
Wednesday	07:30 - 16:30
Thursday	07:30 - 16:30
Friday	07:30 - 16:00

Telephone

+27415811590

Website

http://www.dmvarchitecture.co.za/

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