Cape Town architectural practice

Every building starts as a line.

Pillar A

The council needs it exact.

Pillar B

The buyer needs it beautiful.

One drawing

We draw one line for both.

DLA Design & Render

From planning to reality.

DLA Design & Render. Cape Town.

Scroll to walk through
Cape Town architectural practice

From planning to reality.

Council submissions and photoreal renders, drawn from one line.

01 The evidence

Ours from the first line.

The projects further down this page were drawn in this studio, submitted to the local authority by this studio, and rendered from the same model. If you want to see a full drawing set before you commit, ask and we will send one.

CAPE TOWN · SUBMISSION DRAWINGS AND VISUALISATION

02 Services

One line. Two jobs.

A

Local authority and planning submissions

Zoning analysis, council documentation, compliance reports, building lines, site development plans. We speak to the council so you do not have to.

Zoning analysisCouncil submissionsCompliance reports Building linesSite development plans
B

CGI and visualisation

Photoreal renders, animated walkthroughs, marketing visuals, material studies, day and night studies. The scheme sells before a brick is laid.

Photoreal rendersAnimated walkthroughsMarketing visuals Material studiesDay and night studies
03 Process

Hold to trace the line.

Press and hold. The datum runs the length of a project.

Press and hold the button to advance the datum line through the five stages of a project.

01

Concept

Brief, feasibility, massing. The direction is set.

02

Visualisation

Renders and walkthroughs. Everyone sees the same building.

03

Submission

Drawings, documentation, compliance. The file goes in complete.

04

Approval

Council liaison through to a stamped approval.

05

Construction

Design intent carried into built form.

Approved
04 Selected work

Four houses, drawn to be built.

Infinity-edge pool terrace with outdoor lounge, looking toward the mountains.
P-01

House Kerzner Estate

Hout Bay, Cape Town · 2025
Estate residence
Double-volume living
Open-plan living room with modular sofa, marble media wall and ribbon fireplace.
P-02

House Zulu

Bishops Court, Cape Town · 2025
Family residence
Open-plan living
Master bedroom with upholstered headboard wall and curved lounge chair.
P-03

House Van der Merwe

Constantia, Cape Town · 2025
Private suite
Moody interiors
Infinity pool and timber deck overlooking the bay at twilight.
P-04

House Bezuidenhout

Ballito, KZN · 2025
Waterfront residence
Outdoor living
05 Studio
Nkululeko Dlamini, founder of DLA Design and Render.
FounderNkululeko Dlamini
Founded2019
PracticePlanning + Visualisation
Datum33°55'S 18°25'E

Nkululeko Dlamini

DLA Design & Render was founded in 2019 on one conviction: the path from a planning drawing to a finished building should be precise the whole way.

The practice works where two disciplines meet, the rigour of local authority compliance and the craft of photoreal visualisation. Every project is treated as one sequence, from concept through approval into built reality.

Same drawing. Same line.
06 Straight answers

The questions people actually ask.

How long does council actually take?
A complete submission clears in roughly 30 to 40 working days. An incomplete one can sit for six months or longer, bouncing back for rectification. Most of our work happens before the file goes in, which is the part that decides which of those two you get.
What if it comes back rejected?
You are told why and given a chance to fix it. Rectify within a year of the first rejection and there is usually no new fee. We handle the rectification.
Do I have to deal with the council?
No. We do the liaison, from zoning analysis to the stamped approval.
Will the building actually look like the render?
Yes, because the render is built from the drawing that gets submitted, not from a separate marketing model. Same geometry, same dimensions, same file.
Can I get renders without the planning work?
Yes. And planning without renders. Most clients take both because it is one drawing either way.
What does it cost?
Priced per project once we have seen the site and the brief. The first conversation costs nothing.
07 Contact

Start your submission.

Tell us the site and what you want to build. You get a reply within one working day.

Office hoursMon to Fri · 08:30 to 17:00 SAST

Response within 1 working day

Enquiry ready

Thank you. Your email app is opening with the enquiry addressed to the studio. Press send there and it lands in our inbox. We reply within one working day.