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Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon VOORENDYK, John Born: Architect Born in the then Western Transvaal, where his father farmed. He attended primary school in Ottosdal. He was however sent for his high schooling to King Edward VII High School for Boys as a boarder, as his grandfather believed that an English education was requisite to prosper in the political dispensation current in South Africa at the time. He proceeded to study architecture at the School of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand. He worked as a student in Gerard MOERDYK's office with the likes of Jan van VAN WIJK, Wilhelm MEYER, both then fellow students of the Wits School of Architecture, and Carl GERNEKE, then a student at the University of Pretoria School of Architecture. He recalls various Dutch immigrants in the office. Chris COETZEE who was very active in MOERDYK's office, Chris SEWYN who was a draughtsman in the office and acted as Clerk of Works on the Voortrekker Monument at the time. There was also a draughtsman in the office, Johannes van WAARDHUIZEN, sponsored by MOERDYK's then partner, Henry WATSON, but the student died in his third year of study. It would appear that John VAN DE WERKE also spent some time working in the practice, as did Wynand SMIT, who was cited to be responsible for the Chemistry building on the University of Pretoria campus as well as the Chemistry and Physics building on the University of Orange Free State campus, as well as the Middelburg Hospital, which, unusual for that time, had a Muslim prayer room included in the design. As student VOORENDYK had also worked in the offices of Robert SCHMIKL. SCHMIKL was frugal and handed out four drawing pins and a pencil, which had to be returned when you left. Also in the office was HAIN (father of Peter Hain), subsequently fired for spending too much time on the telephone. After graduating VOORENDYK worked for Christos DANEEL in Bloemfontein. Ralph EHLERS asked him to join their practice in the 1970s where he was in partnership with VENNOOTSKAP DAAN KESTING. Here he worked on the SABC Building. VOORENDYK followed Leslie DURSTON as in-house architect for the SABC consequent to training he had received in acoustic design. His predecessor had narrowly missed being fired from his post by the Minister of Posts and Telegraph for placing the English language signage above that of the Afrikaans on the newly completed SABC Headquarters in Durban! In his tenure as in-house architect Voorendyk claimed the designs of the SABC Broadcasting and Recording Studios in Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Pietersburg and Windhoek. VOORENDYK delivers the Gerard MOERDYK Memorial Lecture on the churches of MOERDYK. (Personal communication with John VOORENDYK).