#519 - ADRIAN MORRIS, Co-Founder and Director of Pangea Design Group
SUMMARY
This week, David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Adrian Morris, co-founder and Director of Pangea Design Group, as well as Managing Partner of Design Partnership and Morris&Co. The three discussed Adrian’s educational background, why architecture school is too theoretical, the operations of the firm, Adrian’s early career, growing a diverse portfolio, establishing Pangea, collectives vs individual firms, office growth & COVID, hybrid work policy, AI tools, being involved in design as director, architecture office succession, managing multiple businesses, and more. Enjoy!
ABOUT ADRIAN
Adrian Morris is one of the founders and Directors of Pangea Design Group, as well as Managing Partner of Design Partnership and Morris&Co in South Africa. Trained as an architect at the University of the Witwatersrand, and with more than 20 years of experience, he brings a rich and diverse perspective shaped by architecture, interiors, workplace, retail, hospitality and refined residential environments.
Throughout his career, Adrian has developed a thoughtful and intuitive approach to design — one that looks beyond the physical space to consider how people feel, move, connect and belong within it. His work brings together strategic thinking, strong concept development and a deep sensitivity to atmosphere, brand, function and human experience. This allows him to contribute to projects with both creative clarity and commercial understanding.
Speaking on behalf of Pangea Design Group, Adrian represents the spirit behind the alliance: a collective of complementary studios coming together across regions to share knowledge, insight and specialist expertise. Pangea Design Group was created around the belief that design is stronger when it is collaborative — when local intelligence, international perspective and different areas of expertise come together around one shared ambition.
This collaborative model allows Pangea Design Group to respond to complex projects with depth, agility and cultural sensitivity, particularly within hospitality, lifestyle-led developments and branded residential environments, while also drawing on wider strengths across commercial, workplace, retail and mixed-use design. Through this collective approach, Adrian helps express Pangea Design Group’s ambition to create places that are thoughtful, experience-driven and deeply connected to their context — places shaped not by one voice alone, but by the combined strength of studios working together towards a shared design vision.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Adrian's educational background.
(04:38) Architecture school is too theoretical.
“The business of design and the design of business are interlinked, but they're two fundamentally different things. The business of design is how you run a design studio, how you design and run your processes and systems so they make financial sense, and how you sell time. Ultimately, it's about watching the hours and optimizing them while still trying to deliver great quality work. But the design of business is a completely different thing. What's the structure of your business? How are you positioning yourself in the market? How are you leveraging other opportunities that exist around the silos or sectors you're operating in? It's really something that's been central to how we've built our business and our studio.” (07:33)
(08:53) Firm operations.
(15:27) Adrian's early career.
(22:57) Growing a diverse portfolio.
“We're trying to balance two things. On the one hand, we're seen as professionals. On the other hand, it's about being a little bit streetwise and thinking, if you see an opportunity, where can I take us? We always have the same approach: let's walk around it a little bit. You follow an opportunity, and if it's something that has potential, then we look at the system and ask, " How do you scale it?” (24:14)
(26:51) Establishing Pangea.
(31:25) Collectives vs individual firms.
(34:51) Office growth & COVID.
“So we ran a remote office, and at the time we were about 55 people. Every morning we'd have an online check-in. Some people came to the studio at my house, and we decided to stretch that as long as we could. Instead of paying rent, we put that money into an investment account. I think we really stretched it. After about 18 months, we bought our own office. Now, the way we work is that we continue with a hybrid model. People come in based on the projects they're working on and the teams they're in, so it's a flexible system. We can probably seat about 40 people in the office, and they work out their own systems and schedules. We don't have a big studio where everyone comes in. For us, it's also about understanding that a lot of people have lives outside of work. We have a very simple philosophy: we manage by expectation, not inspection. As long as the work gets done and the quality is great, we're not going to be looking over your shoulder.” (41:09)
(43:17) Hybrid work policy.
(45:52) AI tools.
“Something good will come out of every bad situation. If you look at COVID, there were good things that came out of it. For us as a business, it was innovation and the adoption of AI, and the fact that we produced what I think in the end was a really great product from what was a very difficult project and a difficult client, and not without support. The guys in Mauritius were instrumental in helping us and the project along. So I think, as a business owner, coming through difficult situations is the test of great partnerships.” (48:58)
(50:02) Being involved in design.
(52:15) Project that Adrian would like to do.
(54:21) Architecture office succession.
(57:26) Managing multiple businesses.
(59:33) Favorite building.
