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Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon LE ROUX, Dirk Cornelius Born: 1940 04 11 Died: 2015 08 11 Architect DipArch 1970 (Cape Town) Was employed at OSMOND LANGE ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS in East London. Dirk le Roux passed away on Tuesday 11 August 2015 after a brief illness bravely borne. TRIBUTE PRESENTED AT THE FUNERAL CEREMONY HELD AT THE GONUBIE BAPTIST CHURCH ON 17 AUGUST 2015 I would like to pay tribute to Dirk le Roux on behalf of the Border Historical Society (BHS). Dirk and his wife Jeanette were both members of the BHS Committee and contributed to the organization and its activities with their willing participation and steady presence. Dirk’s particular interest on the Society's field trips was his detailed photographic documentation of the heritage buildings using his trusty Nikon camera – an interest in historical buildings that was in line with my own. The skill involved in detailing and constructing heritage buildings and the meaning of the architectural details would be dissected and discussed with him. This interest in heritage buildings was a natural extension of Dirk’s 55 years in architectural practice. It is perhaps appropriate that the Border Historical Society should therefore provide a summary of his architectural career for those who are gathered here today. In 1959 at the age of 18, Dirk enrolled at Pretoria University for the part-time Diploma in Architecture. Norman Eaton, an influential architect, employed Dirk part-time as a student during his first year of study. The University's requirement for Dirk to use English language architectural textbooks prompted a difference of opinion with his lecturers when he was required to write exams in Afrikaans. He decided to relocate to the University of Cape Town and registered in 1960 for his second year of study, again for the part-time Diploma in Architecture. Dirk would have interacted with many influential architects on the staff at the time including Prof. Thornton White, Revel Fox, F.L. Sturrock and Roelof Uytenbogaardt. Over the next ten years of part time study Dirk worked part-time for Leslie Louw & Faure in Cape Town, except for his fourth year when he was employed by an architect in Windhoek. Following graduation on 22 June 1970, Dirk’s status at Leslie Louw & Faure immediately changed from Student to Project Architect and subsequently Partner and he ran the Johannesburg branch of the practice for a period of six years. From May 1976 he practiced on his own account, in Pretoria and Durban, and in 1979 joined the large Johannesburg practice of Stauch Vorster, followed by a stint at MV3 Architects and finally Northpoint Architects where he was engaged as Supervising Architect on the multi-million Gold Reef City Casino in Johannesburg and Grand West Casino in Cape Town. Following a brief two-year sojourn in Albania as supervising Architect on the Sheraton Hotel in Tirana, he returned to South Africa. In May 2005 he relocated to East London as a Project Architect for Osmond Lange Architects & Planners. I first met Dirk in 2008 when I joined the East London office. My memories of Dirk during this period are many. The first was his determination and perseverance. His handling of the Mdantsane NU1 Police Station project, a complex alteration and addition to an existing building over a lengthy period - with an obdurate contractor - was a lesson for us all. His detailed knowledge and understanding of Construction Programming stood him in good stead during this project. A second memory of Dirk was the skill with which he managed meetings and the subsequent preparation of minutes; these often in great detail. I was privileged to interact with him on the refurbishment of the 1898 Building at Victoria Hospital in Alice and learnt much from the process. My third memory of Dirk was his wonderful ability to construct beautiful hand-drawn architectural details. In this age of mechanically plotted CAD drawings, his fine hand-drawings represented details graphically and legibly with clear understanding of construction detailing, orthographic projection, line hierarchy, suitable lettering and appropriate setting-out. My fourth memory of Dirk was the fastidious and careful way his daily correspondence with clients and contractors was handled. He insisted on the need to create a suitable paper trail, particularly when there were financial implications involved. Another memory of Dirk was his facility to remember discussions, meetings, site visits and events in fine detail and his willingness to stand by these. At a monitoring meeting for a Community Health Centre in Dutywa, the client representative – a Project Manager - apparently suggested that he did not believe Dirk’s explanation about a particular event. Dirk apparently stood up, shut his file abruptly and asked the Project Manager if he was calling him a liar. Dirk was however never short of a sense of humour and an ability to gently jest with 'the man in the street’, high-powered consultants and clients alike. We were privileged to interact and work with Dirk Le Roux during time spent in East London. Thank you. William Martinson