Archiconnect: Don't be afraid of hiring an architect

Over the last decade, Bangladeshi architects have been bringing home numerous prestigious international awards, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, on a number of occasions. You would think this would translate to a cityscape that is adorned with beautiful architecture, but a fleeting glance across the landscape reveals a veritable mess. 

One reason for this, veteran architect Jalal Ahmed found out, is that less than 5% of buildings in Dhaka are approved by the city authority. "Outside Dhaka, we feel it would be less than 1%," says Ahmed, who, along with his partners recently launched Archiconnect – a platform to connect people with architects, designers, builders and much more. 

Archiconnect was born out of an idea to dispel common misconceptions about architects, especially among the middle class in the country. 

"Before starting this initiative, we interviewed house owners who hadn't hired architects before building their residences. We asked why they did not hire architects?" said Dr Afroza Ahmed, director of J A Architects and the Chief Research and Development Officer of Archiconnects. One of the misconceptions she found is that people believe the building construction cost will increase a lot if an architect is hired. Another prevalent misconception is they believe the architect will design according to his/her ideas, and will not consider what the client or the owner wants. 

"However, the most common answer these homeowners gave us was that they didn't know any architect. If they knew of any such platform to meet architects, they would consult one," Afroza Ahmed said.  

"For middle-class families, finding a good architect is more important than finding a life partner", Md Abrar Masum, the Chief Technical Officer of Archiconnect said jokingly. "Because once you are in a bad relationship, you can get over it if you want. But once you are into a faulty unplanned home, you cannot leave it," he said. 

When we, middle-class families build a home, we invest all our life's savings in building that home. "Just because we have to spend some extra money, we forgo hiring an architect. And in the end, we live in a faulty, unplanned, not-so-beautiful home all our lives," Abrar said.

Archiconnect wants to break this cycle by bringing professionals on a single platform where clients can compare and communicate with them.  

Last March, the team conducted a professional survey among the architects and found that 10% of the architects who are living in Dhaka did not get any project to work on for the last two years. 

"Dhaka is already architect-saturated, and too many buildings have already been constructed. The scope of new development is less here. As a result, the new architects are not getting jobs. It is high time we move our focus from Dhaka so that the clients outside the capital can hire an architect," said Afroza. 

How it all started

During the pandemic in 2020, the Ahmed family members were stuck in three continents. While architect Jalal Ahmed was in Bangladesh, his wife and business partner Afroza Ahmed was in Canada with their son Zaheen Anwar Ahmed. At the same time, their daughter was in the United States. 

As the family members were trying to connect as much as possible, they shared and discussed different ideas with each other. One day, Jalal said he wanted to build a platform for architects, and building and construction professionals, and on this platform, clients could easily find and consult or hire them for their projects. 

Ahmed is the principal architect and managing director of J A Architects and the former President of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB). He is now also the founder and CEO of Archiconnect.

"We thought this was an impressive idea, because Jalal has a rich network of architects, designers, and building and construction professionals. Another very necessary aspect was knowledge about building construction rules and regulations, on which Jalal has immense grip. So considering these essential aspects to build such a platform, we started working on it," said Afroza, co-founder of Archiconnect.  

After four years of its inception, Archiconnect was finally launched to work as the database for architects, and other building professionals like designers, construction experts, contractors, landscape architects, light designers, acoustic designers, interior designers, carpenters, graphic designers, architectural photographers, surveyors, geotechnical engineers, etc. 

"There was a time when word of mouth was the only way to connect to these professionals. Many young architects and other professionals do not get jobs because of this practice. But now we are living in the era of technology, and we can try to solve this connectivity [gap] with technology," said Jalal. 

Archiconnect is currently a 17-staff organisation. Zaheen Anwar Ahmed, Jalal and Afroza's son,  is the Chief Business Development Officer.

How the platform works

"The problem is double-edged – young architects are not getting jobs, while there are clients out there but they also do not know where to look for architects and other building professionals. It was a complex process for us - to bring all these aspects under one platform," Ahmed said.

Their research showed that there are 12 main categories relating to building and space construction, and there are further subcategories under each. The Archiconnect website will provide all the professionals' profiles (including experiences and projects). The clients can choose the consultation they would like from these profiles available on the website. 

"In the next six months, we are planning to bring 250 professionals specialised in these categories on Archiconnect," he said.

These inclusions will be subscription-based. There are going to be three options – basic, standard and premium. The subscription fee is yet to be decided. 

"Besides, we are trying to create awareness through social media content. For example, we have made six documentaries on architecture and more are in the pipeline," shared Jalal. 

The team also has plans to start providing e-learning options to young professionals - not necessarily academic learning, but professional training to develop capacity and prepare them for the building and architectural job market. 

We spoke with Junaid Hasan Pranto, an architectural photographer and one of the team members of Archiconnect. He said, "Many beautiful projects are being constructed in Bangladesh, and architects have stunning plans. But they might not know about photographers that can help them document their projects. This is where Archiconnect can be an ideal platform for photographers like me". 

We spoke with Sharmin Sultana, one of the area managers of Berger Paints. Sharmin has been working with architects of Bangladesh for several years. She said, "Building and space construction is a huge industry now in Bangladesh. To have a platform where we can find all the professional architects and designers as well as the cleints is a great thing for us business professionals, as we can get ideas for product development, which is altogether good for the market".