Tuesday 12 April 2022

Lonehill - 1984 Star Homes Festival - Johannesburg South Africa

Lonehill - 1984 Star Homes Festival - Johannesburg South Africa

Lone Hill is a suburb north of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region E. Lone Hill is in the Gauteng province and is a suburb in Sandton. Lone hill is an upmarket area mostly composed of residential properties.


Good day 

I came across your father's website while looking for some information on Lonehill. I see that Patrick worked on the Star Homes Festival (http://pobdesignlandscape.blogspot.com/2016/04/commerical-architectural-projects.html), and I'm trying to find out more about that festival. My new house was featured (I just have a few printouts which were left in the house - see photo attached) and I'd love to access the full article for my house and others.

If you perhaps have some archives or can assist with direction on where to look, I'll really appreciate your help. I thought it would be as easy as googling for newspaper archives but most things are behind university paywalls.

Thank you and kind regards,
Joe Spring


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Dear Joe

Thank you for your email (with link of what you looked up of 'The Star' Homes Festival, Lone Hill, Sandton, c. 1980) and the newspaper clipping from 1984. Great that you kept the printouts which were left in your house. Apart from copies of POB's architectural drawings, I'm not aware that we have any archives about 'The Star' Homes Festival. I'd need to go through my father's design article files to check, but I doubt we have any more than you have. My mother recalls that it was around 1981, when POB was head of Tekton Studio, an in-house branch of RFB (Rhodes-Harrison, Fee and Bold). Any background info would have stayed with the firm. She adds, "I don't know what happened to RFB which was re-named  but doubt that it still exists."

The following account by POB contains some of the history of firm:
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After completing my studies in December 1969, I was employed by Rhodes-Harrison, Hoffe and Partners, Architects, as assistant to and at the invitation of their chief designer, Mel Von Broembsen. He had studied under and worked for German-American architect Mies van der Rohe in Chicago for ten years. We worked on large milling and airport projects. When Mel left to start his own practice, I transferred to the interior and industrial design department. Under ex-British Design Council director and industrial designer, Peter Whitworth, we worked on product, furniture and interior design. When the architectural firm split, I remained in my position, now the Mallows Louw, Hoffe and Partners practice, working on hotel interior designs for partner-architects Andre Hoffe and Bill Birrer. Andre had studied under Wright at Taliesen, and Bill had studied under Louis Khan in Philadelphia. Their projects included the Kimberley Transito Hotel and the Chobe Safari Lodge in Botswana, for which I sourced all the furniture and fittings in then-Rhodesia. Professor Wilfred Mallows invited me to enter an internal office competition to design an eleven-unit staff housing scheme for a mining company. My design was selected and built. George Rhodes-Harrison then lured me back to his multi-disciplinary practice, now with partners Robin Fee and Peter Bold. I worked on large-scale industrial projects for GRH and Robin Fee, then headed their industrial and interior design unit from 1978. By 1983 I was responsible for the interior, furniture and furnishings for the JCI head office, high-rise building in central Johannesburg

Mel left RHH and Partners in 1971 to start his own practice. I then worked in the industrial and interior design department under ex-British Design Council director and product designer Peter Whitworth. Peter was another inspirational designer in my life. He had excellent design sense, taste and a practical working knowledge of industrial manufacturing processes. We created products for the furniture and radio industries plus interiors for the MLH  and Partners architects, hotels in SA and Rhodesia. This was in the office of Mallows, Louw, Hoffe and Partners, who had split from George Rhodes-Harrison in 1972. I had done a house design for one of the last staff members, which Professor Mallows saw; he invited me to enter the internal office competition for a small eleven-house complex for Cullinan Refractories. In an office of about 40, my design won! I had worked really hard at nights and on weekends, and perhaps my 3D drawings helped, but my houses were also easy to build and cost-effective.

I then took up employment as a designer for Schachat-Cullum, then the biggest house builders in Africa, a very well-run company. I learnt a lot about practical design and the methods of processing drawings from design to building site.

A year later George Rhodes-Harrisons enticed me back to his practice, RFB. I worked on milling and other food factories, until RFB set out their own graphic and industrial, interior design department. I was in this capacity from 1975 to 1983, working at times with Robin Fee and Peter Bold after George Rhodes-Harrison had tragically died of a heart attack at age 63 in 1982. After heading the interior design department, doing the 30 storey JCI head office for Robin Fee, I decided to go on my own.


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I was able to find the following online about the company:
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Rhodes-Harrison, Hoffe and Partners, Architects
Mallows, Louw, Hoffe.
Some background as to how MLH ARCHITECTS AND PLANNERS came into being:
Originally the firm was called RHODES-HARRISON HOFFE AND PARTNERS. In the early 1960's Prof. EWN MALLOWS was a consultant to the firm.
When he joined the firm after retiring as Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at WITS University he was a consultant to the Standard Bank Corporation as well as to Anglo-American and South Corporation as well as to Anglo-American and South African Breweries who were in a joint venture for the Carlton Center development in downtown Johannesburg. Soon thereafter Leslie LOUW a talented architect from Cape Town joined the partnership and the firm became RHODES-HARRISON LOUW HOFFE AND PARTNERS. There was an extended period of time when George RHODES-HARRISON took a leave of absence from the firm with full benefits which most of the partners thought to be inequitable and as a consequence decided to part company with RHODES-HARRISON. Prof. MALLOWS tried to broker a reconciliation between RHODES-HARRISON and the rest of the partners (Harry HOFFE and Andre HOFFE, Michael SIMPSON, William BIRRER in Johannesburg and Leslie LOUW, Brian ORME and Albert FAURE in Cape Town and David HAMILTON in Durban. He was unsuccessful and George RHODES-HARRISON left the firm with two of his senior associates (Robin FEE and Peter BOLD) and started his own firm (RHODES-HARRISON, FEE AND BOLD). The remaining partners then asked Prof. MALLOWS to remain with them and the firm of MALLOWS, LOUW, HOFFE AND PARTNERS came into being (MLH AND PARTNERS) with offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and later with Mel VON BROEMBSEN in Port Elizabeth.
    This from memory by Wilfrid MALLOWS' son Anthony (also an architect and planner) who worked in both the Johannesburg and Cape Town offices of MLH in the mid 1970's before leaving South Africa to complete graduate studies in architecture and city planning at MIT in the USA where he now lives.

Source: https://www.artefacts.co.za/main/Buildings/archframes.php?archid=2171

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Sorry not to be of more help. If I come across anything about this festival, I'll let you know. It would be great to add the scan you sent to POB's website (and credit you for sending them if that's OK with you?). I wonder if that is POB's drawing? Some elements look like his but I'm inclined to think he drew trees more freely. In addition, POB was a promoter of indigenous trees; I'd be surprised if he'd drawn that palm-tree, which he regarded as 'exotics' and therefore damaging to the ecology, water table etc. His architectural drawings invariably included trees and shrubs indigenous to the area in which the house/ office was being built - and he loved including a classic car or two!

Are you still in this house? It would be wonderful if you had any photos to send that I could upload to his design blog.

Kind regards

Saturday 28 August 2021

Arne Jacobsen beech dining chairs and table (1955)


Arne Jacobsen beech dining chairs and table. This Butterfly Chair was designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1955 for Fritz Hansen. This classic set was manufactured  and bought in 1976 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and served as a family dining set for the next 40 years. It is still in excellent condition and will be passed down the family. 







Wednesday 31 March 2021

POB's dinky toy collection: LHS Row 1: GRAND PRIX CARS

 POB's dinky toy collection: Left-hand-side of cabinet: Row 1: GRAND PRIX CARS

Grand Prix car
Picture 1: Can anyone name and date this car?


























Wednesday 14 August 2019

Car drawings - Part 2




© Patrick O’Brien. Nothing from this page can be used or reproduced (or saved or pasted elsewhere) without the permission of Patrick E. O’Brien.

Saturday 27 April 2019

South African houses: A satirical look













© Patrick O’Brien. Nothing from this page can be used or reproduced (or saved or pasted elsewhere) without the permission of Patrick E. O’Brien.


Friday 4 January 2019

Puma Club records (hardcover book)





Club founded by POB on 26 May 1960 (age16)






p. 3
p.3 contd.

p. 4

p. 4 contd.

p. 5

p. 5 contd.


p. 6

p. 6 contd.


p. 7
p. 7 contd.

p. 8
p. 8 contd.
p. 9

p. 9 contd.
p. 10

p. 10 contd.

p. 11

p. 11 contd.
p. 12
p. 12 contd.




p. 82

p. 83

p. 83 contd.
p. 84
p. 84 contd.
p. 85
p. 85 contd.
p. 86