The investment is accommodating creative agencies in the design and media sector as well as to create an environment for young designers from all disciplines. The Fringe, as it’s now known, is Cape Town’s new innovation hub and aims to become the Design Capital of the World by 2014.

The Fringe project is managed by The Cape Town Partnership and is already home to Cape Craft and Design Institute, Open Innovation Studios, a range of modest-sized design and ICT firms, and CPUT’ FID, as well as the Cape Town Fashion Council situated in Harrington House. Ever since the forward-thinking urban planning ordinance was passed in 2001, dilapidated public spaces and buildings like Harrington House have undergone renovations with the aim to drive economic and social innovation. It’s due to these renovations that more individuals and businesses are excited about calling the Fringe their new home.

The five story office block, Harrington House in Barack Street, is one of the buildings targeted to receive a makeover. After being an eye-sore for a number of years the building’s weary  interior and exterior have been renovated and updated to integrate it with the East City districts new and modern look. Taking just nine months to complete, its thanks to Devmark Design Interiors and Renovations together with Devmark Construction that has restored Harrington House to the highly sought after block it once was. The team saw this as the perfect opportunity to create an ambient space that remained in line with its current industrial expression.

Says Dejane of Devmark Design and Renovation, “we wanted the entire building to retain its industrial look and feel but give it a modern twist. It’s been a great opportunity to be able to play a part in the revamp of Cape Town’s urban city development.”

The building’s exterior was severely outdated with face brick and splashes of pink. Modern and bold colours of red, charcoal and mushroom have transformed the outer surface. Inside, the lobbies were all tiled in very large, high-gloss black and mushroom coloured tiles. Clever lighting was installed in the hallways to help create a sense of space in an otherwise dark and restricting area. New lifts were installed and floors were screed to accommodate the heavy load of trolleys and deliveries, while bathrooms we kept simple with built in vanities and square on-top basins.

Harrington House is part of the East City precinct which takes in Roeland and Darling Streets and Buitenkant and Canterbury streets and abuts onto a strip of land connecting the Technology University to Tenant Street. It is adjacent to parts of the proposed District Six development.