Building has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father was a draftsman with a deep love of buildings who later was the regional manager for a major South African building-merchant business, Federated Timbers (FT). During my high-school years, I worked in its retail division over school holidays and on Saturdays.

I learned the merchant trade from the ground up: product specifications, timber species, and site applications. I spent time in the yard watching roof trusses manufactured to order and timber pressure-treated on site. Cement and building supplies arrived by rail on the company’s own siding. It was a practical, hands-on education in how a building comes together - long before a project becomes a finished home.