David Stanley Jack is recorded as a student from ‘Northern Rhodesia’ (now Zambia) enrolled on the postgraduate course run by the Architectural Association’s Department of Tropical Studies, in London. Hamilton was registered on the Department’s ‘General Course’, for the 1964-65 session and he was subsequently awarded the AA Diploma in Tropical Studies. Prior to attending the AA he had studied at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, graduating with a BArch degree c1962. Immediately following his AA studies, Jack undertook a Masters degree in Urban Design at the University of California, Los Angeles, before returning to Africa and working as a city planner in Cape Town from the early 1970s, rising to become Chief City Planner. In this role he took a lead in the ‘Greening of the City’ project and the highly successful pedestrianisation of the St. George’s Street / St. George’s Mall area. By the mid-1980s Jack had moved on to work for the Anglo American Property Services (AMPROS), one of the largest property owners in South Africa, in Cape Town. In the late 1980s, Jack became one of the driving forces behind the redevelopment of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, and was appointed as the first Managing Director of the development company. Under his strong leadership, a team of talented architects, designers, engineers and planners were assembled and transformed the area into what is today regarded as one of the most successful examples of waterfront development in Africa, reconnecting Cape Town with the sea and receiving over 24 million visitors per year. For this work Jack was awarded the Gold Medal of the South African Institute of Architects in 2000 and the Gold Medal of Heritage South Africa in 2003.
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