With a forward-thinking construction solution, our mission is to promote an architecture that challenges convention, enhances quality, and considers building performance and its impact on our environment paramount to its pursuits.
Before introducing ANIMA it is important to understand the role of INNATE HOMES, as the two are one-in-the-same, started by the same two people with the same set of values.
INNATE, as an architectural and design practice, and ANIMA as a building solution.
INNATE HOMES was founded by Alexander McGee and Svend Rands, on the back of three years of successfully working on construction projects together. Born out of a shared desire to improve and redefine the sector, the initial enquiry was to consider the best possible building system and design solution that could be implemented in any given location. It was to be innovative and encompass the boldest aspirations for our work.
INNATE HOMES is an architectural practice that upholds our objectives. We consider off-site, factory production of the component parts of projects, as a method to deliver on:
Controlling and optimising quality of materials;
Being ecologically sensitive and lowering the impact on our environment;
Reducing time and waste on site;
Aligning the local industry with global technological advancements;
all the while, maintaining a connection between innovation, good design principles, craftsmanship and ecology.
ANIMA is the pioneering solution of these objectives and it responds to a desire to provide homes in remote and often difficult to access places. ANIMA is an expression of our primary interests and our highest values — it promotes an architecture that, through material selection, formal responses and detailed design, promotes a relationship between a building and its surrounding ecology and environment.
It is not a construction method that imposes. It is a system, designed to be responsive whereby, even through prefabrication of component parts and factory processes of assembly, the custodian can react and select in their, and their environment's, best interest.
With 18 years of professional experience, Alexander is a qualified Architect (RIBA and SACAP). He is fortunate to consider his career and his hobby as the same work. Having practised in both Europe and Africa, he has led and delivered on numerous architectural projects, ranging in type and scale, from high-specification, new build projects in London to considered heritage interventions in the heart of Cape Town. A robust belief in the creative design process drives Alexander’s approach to all projects.
He regards wilderness as mankind’s greatest asset and most important benefactor, and is committed to driving his work and projects to the benefit of conserving and preserving these fragile and diminishing ecosystems. ANIMA embodies this commitment as it pioneers a considered means of settlement — one that creates value, better protects and regenerates natural resources, and focuses on heritage vital to enabling and sustaining life for all on our majestic continent
Enjoying the challenge of new projects and finding direct solutions to complex problems, it was Svend’s enquiry into reconsidering the way we build in pristine and hard to access places that spurred the concept of ANIMA.
He completed a BA in Development and Environment at the University of Stellenbosch, which has lead to an accomplished property development career. Svend has managed various residential and commercial construction projects, with a focus on large warehousing. His discerning eye is an asset and ensures that the quality of ANIMA products is never compromised.
He is a life-long lover of the outdoors and is passionate about preserving our environment for future generations.
