In Sandton, Johannesburg stands the Leonardo, Africa's tallest building. Designed by the team of Co-Arc International Architects, the building stands at 55-stories tall and is set to be completed this year. 

Besides the record-breaking height of the building, there's another aspect to this project that has made headlines: The design team behind the project is predominantly female-led. However, according to the Co-Arc team, this detail went unnoticed until a recent progress photo of the project emerged. 

According to TimesLIVE writer Alex Patrick, "The thought of an all-woman architect team doesn't sound groundbreaking until you consider only 21-percent of South Africa's registered architectural professionals are women, according to the SA Institute of Architects in the Eastern Cape." However, women architects must not only battle numbers but also harassment from the predominately male construction teams they work with every day.

The struggle by female architects, construction leads, and designers to be viewed as capable leaders in large-scale projects has been a constant battle, according to the article. Co-Arc's director Catharine Atkins and architect Malika Walele are the project leads behind the tower and are joined on the design team by Co-Arc's emeritus partner, Francois Pienaar. Walele shares with TimesLIVE that "Despite her position on the team, she's had to stare down groups of men making inappropriate comments, turn down unwanted advances, and shrug off sexism from some of the 2,000 workers at the site."

Despite the adversity, the women of Co-Arc continue to encourage other females to work in the industry. Atkins shares with TimesLIVE that being the only women among her three male partners in the firm has taught her to push forward and make herself heard. In a statement, Walele expresses that the Leonardo project helps prove that design teams can be predominantly led by women. The Co-Arc team "is proof that women can change cities and create buildings that will be the tallest in Africa," she explains.

She continues by stating, "I've never understood why architecture needs to be a male-dominated industry. Women are more than capable of doing this. It's frustrating that more women in the industry aren't doing it."