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Agency owner Jason’s best friend Mac has become the agency mascot; he’s been coming to work since he was a pup.The bold geometric art on canvas is by Andrzej Urbanski. -
Radar agency founder Jason Ray bought the sculpture that hangs above the building’s main staircase from an anonymous student at Michaelis School of Fine Art. -
Taking a break from work: around the table in front, from left: Alistair Kruger, Tahier Variawa, Dominique Anders, Mac the dog, Lisa Ting Chong and Francois Viljoen. Nelson Velayo and Kyle Sarkas are sitting at the second table, and behind them are Ghameema Joseph, Jared Gordon and Richard Myburgh. -
The façade of the three-story grey building on Rose Street in the Bo-Kaap. -
The Lego-block table in the boardroom, which the Radar team made themselves after seeing a similar table in an architectural firm’s offices in Dublin. -
The finance, traffic and production staff on the first floor are surrounded by as many artworks as the creative departments. -
Cupboard doors are covered with wallpaper that interior designer Jean-Pierre de la Chaumette commissioned one of Radar’s art directors to design. The sliding doors hide storage for the production and traffic teams. -
The white table was repurposed from Radar’s previous offices and the benches are from Onsite Gallery. -
Jean-Pierre designed the table with the metal legs, based on a mid-century design. The vintage chair was reupholstered by Cape Town-based duo Bofred. -
Jean-Pierre designed these tables to create a fluid yet flexible space for the Radar team. They’re used both as hot desks and an informal meeting space for larger gatherings.
PHOTOS Micky Hoyle PRODUCTION Jean-Pierre de la Chaumette WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo
Art, creativity and storytelling were the building blocks of the Radar agency’s new home in Cape Town.
At three floors, 21 Rose Street in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap stands tall compared with some of its residential neighbours. The earliest known record of the early Dutch building pops up at around 1817, when it started life as a wooden clog factory. Nearly two centuries and several incarnations later, including stints as a button factory, a residence and most recently an art gallery, it has found new owners in the advertising agency Radar. Considering the artworks that line its walls, you’d be forgiven for assuming it’s still an art gallery.
“We were unhappy renters for 10 years,” says agency founder Jason Ray. “Having a home for Radar is important to us. It helps to express what we are about. We are not your typical agency and we don’t aspire to be one. It’s important that people experience us when they come to Radar.”
Indeed, creativity abounds at Radar: From the moment we walk into the building we are greeted by works of artists such as Zander Blom, Black Koki, Christo Basson and Andrzej Urbanski. Further along the ground floor, past vertebrae-like hot desks that fit together like a puzzle, is the boardroom. Its centrepiece, a table with a top made of tiny Lego blocks, brings a touch of creative play into a space typically assumed to be one of the most serous in any office.
The room’s walls are also hung with several art pieces, and one wall is an artwork in itself. “In chopping away at the back walls of what is now the boardroom, we discovered some old Cape stone and brickwork, so I decided to turn this into a feature wall,” says interior designer Jean-Pierre de la Chaumette. “Radar has an impressive art collection, built up over a decade. It pretty much formed the foundation of the design scheme. I was keen to create a gallery-type space, so we kept the rest of the walls, ceilings and floors white to create a blank canvas upon which we could display the art.”
The first floor, which houses the finance and traffic offices, reveals a light-hearted, emotive art collection that includes works by Khaya Witbooi, Wesley van Eeden, Cameron Platter and Boeta Phyff. “We think it’s important to create an inspirational space, so that our finance people sit in the same kind of creative space as our studio,” says Jason. “We don’t have a ‘back office’.”
The creative team’s studio on the second floor features works that use text and typeface as a primary visual language, such as a series of 13 intaglio prints by Am I Collective creative studio. One of the most striking elements here is a graphic representation of the Bo-Kaap that was printed onto wallpaper and applied to the sliding doors of the cupboards.
The working spaces are not the only ones to benefit from the large art collection. Pop into the ground-floor restroom and you’ll find a collection of antelope horns, and on the second floor a collection of antiques and modern plates sourced from artists such as Michael Chandler, Theo Kleynhans and Catherine Ash. Look up at the ceiling on any floor and see the lines formed by the copper light fixtures, looking as if someone took a pen to the roof and drew a well-considered set of lines.
“It’s imperfect, real, quirky and personal, but this space allows us to showcase our love of art and design,” says Jason. “We surround ourselves with things we love, things that tell stories – and that’s what Radar is about.”
Watch the video of the VISI Great Spaces Tour of Radar Agency here.
