Paragon Group announces two new Associates
 | Paragon Group announces two new Associates_approved | 47 KB | Download |
 Preview | New Paragon Group Associate Antoinette Kloppers. | 3.27 MB | Download |
 Preview | New Paragon Group Associate Taz-Wynne Superman. | 3.38 MB | Download |
 Preview | Senior Architectural Technologists Taz-Wynne Superman and Antoinette Kloppers. | 2.86 MB | Download |
Antoinette’s passion is accessibility in architecture, with her daughter having a hearing impairment. She enthusiastically creates awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities, and has presented numerous talks on the topic. Currently studying arbitration, she hopes to express her passion for legality and compliance even further in the industry.
“The Paragon Group has a long history of having leadership positions filled by women. In Antoinette’s case, her role as a woman and a mother in a leading position will be a signal of career advancement for the many talented young women in our companies. She will continue to advance excellence in her fields of personal interest, and will strengthen management control, especially in the growing educational projects sector,” Paragon Group Human Resources and Operations Director Cindy Faux highlights.
Paragon Group Director Henning Rasmuss comments: “Antoinette is a born team player, and she has a strong mentorship instinct. She is passionate about excellence in compliance and building laws, and has had a leadership role in this respect for about two years now. When we implemented our new autonomy-based production management system about a year ago, Antoinette was probably the most mature adopter of this new way of working. She has built an incredible team of people, whose skills and careers she nurtures.”
Antoinette elaborates: “I love being in the trenches with my team, and it is here where we mentor each other on different levels. My aim is to advance us to the forefront of equitable and accessible architecture, ensuring that people are able to experience their environments with dignity, equality, and equity. As an Associate, I am empowered to reach out to broader communities to create awareness about this subject, and influence designs to create a better built environment for all.”
Taz-Wynne highlights that his new role will allow him to assume more responsibility. “We are focused on quality of work. I now have the opportunity to drive this quality with all the new and ever-changing BIM technologies for the benefit of our clients. Being an industry that uses and relies on technology, the built environment demands that we keep up. Part of my role will be to stay ahead of this technology, and extract its best use to make our service as architects the best out there.
“It is important to transfer knowledge to staff, including knowledge from the industry and BIM environment. Knowing about BIM tools, techniques, and aspirations is one thing. These aspects have to be implemented in practice. My role will be to push this, together with technical knowledge and management skills transfer.”
Taz-Wynne remarks that being appointed Associate is the culmination of ten successful years at the Paragon Group to date. “The experience I have gained at Paragon has been immeasurable. I have been very fortunate to have had mentors transferring their skill and knowledge. It is time now for me to do that for the rest of the team, so we get a wide range of skills in our business.”
Henning comments: “Taz-Wynne has shown his commitment to the company by consistently advancing his career path through our performance review system. When we introduced a new work-management system just over a year ago, based on principles of autonomy, Taz-Wynne was easily identified as a Pod Leader. He has excelled in this role, and built a strong team within this new production and management environment.
“Active client feedback during this year reiterated the trust that Taz-Wynne has built for himself and for his team, and the trust that clients put in Paragon as a result of his presence in their projects. Client comments related to deep skills and consistency, among other qualities that they perceive in Taz-Wynne and in his team members.”
Elaborating on the restructure itself, Henning points out: “It will see us emerge as a stronger group of companies, with some new owners and some new directors, new mid-level leaders, new brand clarity, and new purpose. We are using this hard time in the South African economy to grow and to strengthen our systems and our skills, and to rethink the property development landscape that feeds our businesses with work. We are readying our businesses for a different economic reality, and for a new landscape or players. The current economy is not a ‘temporary recession’ – we are seeing the emergence of a ‘new normal’.”
Ends
Connect with Paragon on Social Media to receive the company’s latest news
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParagonGroupZA
Pinterest: https://za.pinterest.com/ParagonGroupZA
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ParagonGroupLinkedIn
Instagram: paragongroupza
Notes to the Editor
To download hi-res images for this release, please visit http://media.ngage.co.za and click the Paragon link to view the company’s press office.
About Paragon
Paragon, established in October 1997, is an internationally-active design business, based in Johannesburg. We deliver commercial architecture, masterplanning, interior design, and space planning to visionary clients in all property sectors, from retail to residential and education.
We are committed to global urban development. We are able and agile. Paragon is flexible and diverse in its approach to design. Each project is unique and not driven by style, but by lifestyle and a response to user needs. Elegant and efficient planning form the core of our designs. We understand the needs of our clients, and know how to generate ever new architectural forms in a competitive property market.
We are known for hands-on engagement with all opportunities present in the modern global building industry. The true measure of our skill is our ability to engage at all levels and with all players that make up the colourful world of construction and property development. Our buildings look forward. We embrace the future, because we will be a part of it – part of its problems and responsibilities, and part of its great freedoms and achievements.
Paragon Group Contact
Hugh Fraser
Media Manager
Phone: (011) 482 3781
Fax: (011) 482 3784
Cell: 083 309 4275
Email: media [at] paragon [dot] co [dot] za
Web: www.paragon.co.za
Media Contact
Renay Tandy
NGAGE Public Relations
Phone: (011) 867 7763
Fax: 086 512 3352
Cell: 082 562 5088
Email: renay [at] ngage [dot] co [dot] za
Web: www.ngage.co.za
Browse the NGAGE Media Zone for more client press releases and photographs at http://media.ngage.co.za