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Founder’s Reflections
Jochen Kofahl -
Founder
The story of Hydraform began in
1983 when I was retrenched by
a large engineering group that
closed its offices in South Africa.
A
fter what can only be described as a traumatic experience,
I vowed never to put my welfare in the hands of an employer
again and made up my mind to somewhere, somehow start my
own business. While I searched for the right opportunity I worked
as a freelance consultant to a number of firms in the country. I
knew that to be successful my business had to be founded on
products that were unique, would appeal to markets outside of
South Africa, and would allow me to travel.
After two business failures, I became involved in the housing
industry in Africa. At the time there were some 500 million people
on the continent so I reasoned there had to be a need for
housing.
I knew that the human race had been building using soil or
mud for thousands of years, but I also knew that most of the
structures built in this way frequently didn’t last long when the
rainy season arrived. Still, the use of soil in structure appealed
to my sense of the necessary economics for my business. In
addition, I knew the building system had to be simple so that
unskilled people could make the blocks and build with it.
It was this thought process that led me to the idea of a dry-
stacking interlocking block which used no mortar when building.
The building system also needed to be able to accommodate
with relative ease a reasonable variety of doorways and window
openings. It was then that I began working in my garage,
tinkering about with designs for the machines as well as the
blocks they would produce. And so emerged the concept of a
high-quality compressed block made from soil that was readily
at hand plus the addition of a little cement.
In practice, however, I discovered that the key to a strong
block was clay content: too much was as bad as too little.
Another important factor was the curing process, which
needed time, water and sunlight. Even more important was a
robust design as these machines were likely to be needed in
far-flung rural areas all over the third world and I couldn’t afford
to have them breaking down all over the place. Testimony to
the success of that element of the design is the fact that today
some of the machines we built in 1990 are still in productive use.
Of course, while I had the idea and the skills to design the
machines, Hydraform would not have lasted over 25 years
without the people who joined me in my quest. Not wishing to
offend any of those who have contributed over the years by
forgetting to name them, I will restrict myself to the three people
without whom my dream may never have been realised.
The first of these is the current MD, Robert Plattner. A solid
partner since 1988, Robert stuck with the business through thick
and thin and his unwillingness to give up is a major reason why
Hydraform is the company it is today.
The second critical player is John Carter, our present chairman
and one of the first investors. John became involved in 1993 and
Hydraform benefited greatly from his sage advice while I grew
personally from having him as my mentor.
Finally, and most definitely not least, is Linda Kempster, our
current operations director. Linda started at Hydraform in 1995,
handling the money that kept the business running. Without
her the company could never have survived. Perhaps one
of my fondest memories is of our company motto back in
2005: “Hydraform goes where no one else goes.” Long may it
continue.
Fond
Memories