Bantu Studio Design & Research

Bantu Design & Research is a collaborative architecture, urban design, and urban planning firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We partner with government, NGOs and private sector entities to use design, development strategies and research to trigger positive social, economic and environmental impact. We see architecture and urbanism as strategic opportunity generators which, if carefully calibrated, can yield results beyond physical interventions. We undertake processes, not just projects. Our clients are our partners, not passive recipients. Our approach integrates architecture, urbanism, and strategic planning. Our abilities range from community participation, to strategic and policy initiatives, to implementation of sustainable built works from the architectural dimension to the scale of urban design & landscapes. This approach is based on the transformative role of co-design and aims at operationalizing the role of nature-based solutions as tools for micro-level action inside complex urban landscapes. Rigorous research and deep participation form the basis for all of our work, enabling us to generate specific impact strategies to spark positive change. By leveraging our expertise against local and institutional knowledge, we seek to maximize the value of both design interventions and built environment policy. Bantu is a small and agile firm, with a wide, international and multi-disciplinary network of collaborators who share Bantu’s approach and complement its core skills. Our collaborating team has broad international experience in professional design practice, capacity building & training, teaching and academic research, and urban and public policy development, in North America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. We have applied our approach in design and research projects throughout much of southern and eastern Africa, and seek to expand the cause of just, ethical, equitable and sustainable development through integrated design and research approaches.