AOJ Architecture and Interiors was started in 2009 as a vehicle to make a singular impact on the world of architecture. Founding partners, Mike Rassmann and Alessio Lacovig, remain at the AOJ helm and continue to guide this vision today.

At the core of what we do is a belief that every project’s success is the merging of thousands of individual elements and ideas, interconnected and working in harmony, as integral parts of the picture or purpose – inspirational, sustainable, and relevant for the foreseeable future.

We believe that our role as architects is to listen closely to what our clients want to achieve, help them establish what they need, and then carefully design their project intelligently, to satisfy both, while maintaining simplicity, function, beauty and convenience.

“At AOJ we strive to create architecture that is interesting, sustainable and innovative 
all the while being continually pragmatic and executable.”

Our Clients

"AMAZING FROM THE GET-GO"

Our experience and interaction with AOJ was amazing from the get-go. Their ideas for our building both for the exterior architecture and the interior design were well thought out, creative, functional, and work very well in all aspects of the development. AOJ are always challenging the way things are done and continuously looking for better more creative ways of working. We are extremely happy with the service they provided us and have enjoyed working with them. Should the opportunity arise, we will be calling on their knowledge and expertise once again.

Bruce Tiley Director: Cube Route Logistics

"DEVELOP GREAT CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS"

AOJ have proven to be creative in design and detail whilst staying within strict project feasibility requirements. They work very well with other project professionals and develop great client relationships whilst handling both the architectural work for ourselves and the interior spatial planning and design work for our tenants. We are currently involved in a 40,000 square metre, 3 year phased development with AOJ and we look forward to many more developments with them.

Fabiano Cellini Director: Boundary Park Developments

"HIGHEST QUALITY OF PRODUCT DELIVERED ON TIME"

AOJ has been a pleasure to work with over various exciting projects. The sad reality of the current normality in the construction sector with architects of today is the lack of detail on drawings. That is not the case with AOJ. The details provided are extensive and also practical and logical. With the professional way that their drawings are done it helps their projects achieve the highest quality of product delivered on time.

Jose Jardim Director: Mpumelelo 2

"AOJ, ARCHITECTS WITH INTEGRITY"

AOJ’s has a unique ability to create an artistic concept, take it through a metamorphosis by applying various site, tenant and client specific requirements, to produce drawings that are well detailed to create buildings that inspire. The AOJ team is competent and efficient in what they do. What I appreciate most is the fact that they always strive to provide a better solution. AOJ, architects with integrity.

GJ Nel Development Manager: Orpen Group

"COMMUNICATE SPEEDILY & ACCURATELY"

Over the years spent working together we have particularly appreciated AOJ’s ability to communicate speedily & accurately, in so doing, saving time & thus satisfying the client. Working with the AOJ team has been a pleasure, they know what they want & produce exact drawings that reveal what is important & void of clutter. They are down-to-earth people that are a pleasure to meet with regularly and have a culture of wanting to work together with us.

Leon Schröder Managing Director: Delush Consulting Engineers

"ALWAYS READY TO TAKE ON THE MORE CHALLENGING TASKS"

I have always enjoyed working with the guys at AOJ, a friendly and dedicated bunch of people. What I like about them is that they come prepared for the task at hand and are always willing and helpful to find solutions if a problem arises. I find that they are always ready to take on the more challenging tasks and not just the easy jobs. It has been great working with them for almost ten years now, let the journey go on.

Peter Colen Owner: Peco Creations

"THEY ARE ABLE TO ADAPT AND REACT"

"I have done various projects with the AOJ in my personal capacity as well as a company and it's always been a pleasure working with them. They take the time to understand and get to know you, your lifestyle, budget and what you ultimately want to achieve in your space. Utilising this info and staying close to you throughout the project, they are able to adapt and react to changes to create a space you envisaged living, working or doing business in. "

Peter Peyper Managing Director: Afriski Mountain Resort

"LASER PRECISION"

"What I’ve always enjoyed about working with AOJ is that they are approachable yet professional. They blend great design and good concepts of space tailored to their clients wishes and environment and always manage to surprise. A space is just a space unless a sincere effort is made which transforms space into an experience. AOJ always make this effort. In addition in the background I also have the comfort that the compliance aspect of the project is taken care of by them with laser precision. "

Oliver Schwankhart Managing Director: Bongani Rainmaker Logistics

"ACCURATE DOCUMENTATION AND VERY PROFESSIONAL"

“During 2016, I worked on a project with Mike Rassman of Architects of Justice. The project was a new office block in Isando. The experience of working as a consultant Quantity Surveyor was very rewarding as the AOJ team had produced accurate documentation and the overall management of the project was smooth, and handled very professionally. Their architectural ability was very appreciated by the client and the project was finalised quickly and with a happy client.”

Brian Lyndon Owner/Quantity Syurveyor: Lyndon Services.

"INNOVATIVE COMPANY"

“Our paths crossed with AOJ when we developed our world class fit for purpose medical office and distribution centre in Johannesburg. Not only is AOJ an innovative company that knew exactly what we needed and how to conceptualise it they were also responsible for running the project on our behalf on a day to day basis. Today we occupy a beautiful landmark building in Johannesburg that is recognised and talked about. We would recommend AOJ to anybody that needs high quality architectural and interior design and project coordination."

Chris Swanepoel Managing Director, Ascendis Medical

Every project has a purpose. Helping you realize it is ours.

Founding partners Mike
and Alessio

“Our hallmark approach to architecture was moulded by doing anything and everything to increase our portfolio, our reach and our skills. We had to look for opportunities everywhere and often make seemingly impossible projects into brilliant realities. This is what has made our approach to architecture unique, inextricably binding the utilitarian and the user to create better buildings.”
– Mike

“Originally ‘Architects of Justice’, the name of the company was a reminder to ourselves that, no matter the size of the problem, what we do makes a difference. It was also a promise to our clients that what we do for them is more than just a project, as what we will create together will mark their intention in time and in space.”

– Alessio

Awards

From the inception of AOJ we have benchmarked our practice against industry leaders with the objective of remaining innovative, dynamic and relevant. A method for doing this is entering projects for architectural awards where we have been successful on numerous occasions. These are a handful of the many awards that we are most proud of.

Commendation Award

GIFA Award for Architecture 2017

Caldas Engineering
Rubela Park Offices

Special Mention / Commendation Award

SAIA-KZN Award for Architecture 2021

Thanda
Early Childhood Development Centre

Laureate

Young Architects In Africa Competition 2014

SEED
Primary School Library

Silver Prize

SAIA/Total (SA) Architectural Competition 2016

Total Energy
Total Energy Station

Small Project / Small Practice Award

GIFA Award for Architecture 2021

Private Client
The Uberport

Sustainable Design Award

Afrisam/SAIA Sustainable Design Award 2019 / 20

Thanda
Early Childhood Development Centre

Award of Merit

South African Institute of Architects 2014

SEED
Primary School Library

Commendation Award

SAIA Mpumalanga Award for Architecture 2017

Mjejane
Mjejane Bush Lodge

Sustainability

Building today with tomorrow in mind

We believe that sustainability and environmentally-sound construction are about more than a passing awareness of current trends and fads. They need to be implemented correctly to increase a building’s purpose and profitability in the long term, without reducing its validity and value in the present. Passive design concepts are baked right into all our projects from the start. First and foremost, we apply the key principles of sustainable design which focus on orientation, layout and building envelope to moderate temperature and natural lighting, thereby reducing reliance on industrial heating, cooling, ventilation, electricity and their associated costs. Greening initiatives are important, but they don’t have to be immediate. Grey water systems, solar panels, automated utility monitoring solutions and water collection are easy to implement in the future if they are design considerations from day one. We make sure you can upgrade as and when you see fit, avoiding unnecessarily expensive retrofits or renovations down the line.

“Sustainable development is the masterful balance of meeting our own needs without jeopardising future generations’ ability to do the same.”