About Urban Edge Architects

The Company

Urban Edge Architects and Urban Designers were founded in 1995, when it was introduced to the mainstream of commercial architecture. The company then subsequently opened an office in both Johannesburg and Durban. Ever since its inception, Urban Edge Architects has forged its way into the marketplace, and has established itself as one of the leading empowerment companies in the country.

The company is committed to design excellence, with buildings of a timeless quality. Our objective is to constantly challenge design constraints by being innovative and creative, and by effectively using the client’s resources to achieve environments that are pleasurable. In serving our clients, we believe it is necessary to maximise the development potential of their assets and to be cost effective with feasible solutions that ensure a high financial return. Urban Edge is a multi-disciplinary practice specialising in urban design and architecture. It is our belief that the built urban environment is a continuous and contextual urban matrix of social interaction through the sharing of public space. Our response to architecture is therefore contextual and takes into account the larger environment as an entity of diverse but interrelated human activity.

What we do

We offer a comprehensive architectural service to our clients. We specialise in commercial architecture and public buildings and have achieved various accolades in this field. We also pride ourselves in our ability to create interesting & contextual public space which extends into our extensive range of urban design services.

Urban Edge strives to stay at the forefront of technology. This enables us to offer our clients the best visualisation & technical documentation solutions available globally. Our practice is equipped with PC workstations running the latest in windows operating systems. We use AutoCAD 2011 for architectural draughting and Revit 2011 for 3D modelling. Further to this, we use 3D Studio Viz, Max Design 2011, Photoshop and CorelDraw in conjunction with state-of-the-art in-house full colour printers and plotters to produce our graphic images and client presentations.

Directors

Our team is committed to a built environment of merit with buildings that are timeless, aesthetically relevant, enhance the environment and create spaces of quality. In striving towards design excellence our objective is to constantly challenge the design constraints by being innovative, creative and effectively using the clients’ resources to achieve maximum efficiency whilst creating environments that are pleasurable.

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Farhad Areff | Managing Director

Farhad Areff obtained his B.Arch degree from The University of Natal in 1985 and worked at Aziz Tayob Partnership until 1987. He was appointed to Boogertman, Krige and Blignaut Architects as the managing architect of the Mmabatho office from July 1987 until October 1989. Towards the end of 1989 he established Farhad Areff Architect in Vereeniging, and started work in association with Urban Edge in 1995. He joined Urban Edge in June 1996 as Managing Director when Farhad Areff Architect was incorporated.
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Imran Mulla | Director

Imran Mulla obtained his B. Arch degree from the University of Natal in 1996 and obtained his post-grad. in 1998. His keen interest in architecture led him to experience architecture in the working environment with M.A. Gafoor Architects throughout his studies. On completion of his B.Arch degree he joined Cassim Kadwa Architect and was involved in large scale projects from inception to final completion. After completing his P.G.Dip.Arch. and his registration with SACAP, he joined HMV Architects where he was exposed to large commercial and corporate projects. He is at present an associate director at Urban Edge Architects where his responsibilities cover Conceptual Design, Design & Technical Development and Project Management.

Team

Social Responsibility

Our team is committed to the social development and upliftment of our communities. We endeavour to assist and facilitate all works in the built environment which are devoted to this cause. We have a policy of undertaking social development projects on a non-profit and also ‘no fee’ basis, as our obligation & contribution back to society.

SWe are an equal opportunity company with a strong empowerment policy which extends to all individuals within our team, by promoting further development and study, by providing a non-refundable bursary to all previously disadvantaged members. We also have an ‘in-house’ mentorship programme for previously disadvantaged individuals, where graduates are mentored during their in-service or practical studies.