Interview with David Adetokunbo Laoye, ECAD Architects, President of Lagos Polo Club

ECAD Architects is one of the most prominent architectural companies in Nigeria. Can you tell us more about it?

ECAD Architects was founded about twenty years ago and we have been lucky over the last twenty years to have been involved in what I would call interesting and exciting projects. Our main thrust is to change the urban environment of Nigeria. We have been involved in quite a few projects; commercial, private residences as well as urban interventions. Most of these have been in Lagos though there have been some outside of Lagos too.

What would you say is your general overview of this sector for this year considering that 2015 was a struggle for Nigeria? What is the outlook?

I think this year will be harder; in fact it has been harder since January. We are all aware of the financial indications for Lagos in regards to the drop in the value of oil and that definitely influences the advance in construction and architecture. Most clients that had planned ambitious and expensive projects have had to rethink them and this means that most projects are on hold. Even projects that are already under construction have taken quite a hit. Most of them are not moving as quickly as they were moving initially and what we have had to do in our industry is to adapt. As an architectural firm we have had to think outside the box and try to create a service that is tailored to the current needs of clients. What our clients want are projects that are more efficient, cost less, are not overly ambitious and projects that we know can be completed in the time and the cost that we tell them. As a firm we’ve had to become more innovative and more efficient in our delivery of the service we provide our clients. We are trying to downsize in the office and downsize the growth of the staff and create a new way of preparing the documentation that goes with delivering an architectural project for a client.

The vision is to stay lean. I tell the people that work for us that we are architects and when we design buildings we have to let the client know that we are architects.

What projects are you currently working on?

We have some older projects that we have been working on. We have finished the British American Tobacco head office and residence building. Luckily that was completed last year. We have also completed what I like to call, the first green building in West Africa. We are working on a block of luxury flats on Victoria Island which is an on-going project and we have another eight months to complete that. There are also some commercial buildings, new projects that have come in this year. We are working on a bank, trying to redevelop their branches for the next ten years. We call them new generation branches. We are also working on a new office block in Ikoyi which has to be very efficient and sustainable. That is where the creativity comes into play. How do I design an office block in this environment? In terms of making it efficient. In terms of costs. In terms of material use. So we are using some materials locally and that will mean that the return on the investment for the client has to be higher than it was two years ago.

Could you tell us more about the investment opportunities?

In construction and architecture the length of time for a return on an investment differs in different countries but I’m sure it takes an average of six to ten years before you start receiving returns on your investment. The key to a better return on your investment is the cheaper you build the more return on your investment you have. From our point of view as architects we need to deliver to the client what they want and need for their building and to deliver it efficiently. How do we do that? Value engineering. Efficient design and use of materials and how quickly can we get the building constructed. If you get that right the construction is simple and it will deliver what the client wants. You get the building completed on time and what I call; time to market. So if I get the building done quickly I start seeing my revenue or return on investment earlier

What are your main challenges in this sector?

The main challenges at the moment are finding clients that are willing and able to pay. Challenges that have on-going such as government, plumbing, planning restrictions, and also staff still remain an issue today, getting the right staff and the right technology for today’s needs. We are behind in technology. Manufacturing and construction are sorely lacking. We have a huge gap that needs to be filled. If the government decided to build a hundred thousand houses today we wouldn’t have the manufacturing capacity to achieve that. We would have to import everything. There is a huge possibility and opportunity for foreign investment in construction. We need everything from doors, aluminium windows, materials to making tiles. We have never manufactured tiles locally. For low cost housing you should be able to manufacture low cost tiles. That’s a huge investment opportunity. At the moment we have a need for twelve million affordable houses in this country. If you could build them today you would be able to fill them almost immediately. You can imagine what would need to happen if you built twelve million houses. If you go down the value chain. Tiles, nails, carpenters’ wood. There is just so much you could do. Making bathrooms, windows, door locks and light fittings. Even paint. There is a need for everything. It’s an oasis of opportunity. I think there is a great opportunity for investment in Nigeria even in today’s economy. Those are just some of the challenges we face, technology, support and materials.

Knowing these challenges what is your vision for the company in the next three to five years?

The vision is to stay lean. I tell the people that work for us that we are architects and when we design buildings we have to let the client know that we are architects. We must bring something to the table. That means that if you tell me to design a commercial building I will make it as cheap as possible but also as efficient as possible. That is the most difficult part. How do I achieve that? With the training I have. I must know what shape it should be. I must know what size it should be. I must know what level of technology it requires. If I am building a shopping mall the technology required will be different to what a hospital would need or what a low cost school would need. To understand and know that requires experience and the knowledge of how to combine those different elements correctly. In any development there are different elements, financial, social and the time need. How do I prioritise that? Which comes first? Form or function? That is something we say in architecture. Do I want my building to look very nice or do I want my building to be very efficient? It depends on what the building is for. If it will be a hospital you build for efficiency. If the building is a shopping mall it needs to look nice. People need to be attracted to it and it needs to be flexible. If it’s flexible I can get different shops in there and I can change shops every three months. I can have a shop that is a hair salon. What would a hair salon need? It needs water. You need an area to wash hair. Whereas I could have a shop that sells sweets. It doesn’t need water. It needs something totally different. So that building would need something efficient and flexible. And those are all the things that as an architect company we bring to the client. We spend your money efficiently.

What do you think the government can do to help in your sector?

Creating an enabling environment. Power is a major issue. Without power you cannot have manufacturing. So they would need to sort the power sector out. Legislation as well. By encouraging local companies to have local materials. Everywhere in the world you have European standard materials. But we should also have local material. If I want to build an affordable house locally I don’t want to buy tiles from Italy. I want to be able to have local tiles. It would create jobs and it would also allow us to maintain the house properly if the tiles are made locally. So government have to enable an environment for the manufacturing sector in construction. There are manufacturing sectors in everything. We need people who make doors. Veneers. Door locks, nails. Even something as simple as nails. Imagine how many nails one house would require. Try to imagine how many you would need for a thousand houses. We need a nail industry.  We need to make paints so we need a paint industry. Windows glass, aluminium roofing sheets. If you want to build a thousand houses try to imagine the amount of roofing sheets you would need. We even need local bricks. There is just so much that we need. For now most materials are being imported and that is why you don’t have affordable houses. It just doesn’t make commercial sense to spend all that money on affordable housing. So the government needs to check legislation and encourage local content and by doing so create tax rules and tax laws that allow people to make things locally. I’m not saying that we should stop importing materials because everybody has a right to build at different standards but if you low at the low cost market there is a need for close to twelve million houses. That is enough to create millions of jobs and enough to create construction for the next ten years.

Is there anything else you would like us to know about your company or architecture in general?

We are known in the industry. We have designed different projects. The Silverbird Galleria in Abuja and we have done some work for the Palms and The British American Tobacco head office. We have done a few projects on Banana Island. Architecture in Nigeria is changing and it is getting better. There are many, what I call young Turks, coming in with greater ideas but it is still a blank canvas. There is still so much to be done. Schools. Hospitals. Housing. Public spaces. Bus terminals.

Would you say that Nigeria is still in a growth period?

Yes. There is still much need for growth in public investment and international investment. We need growth in technology. I can’t speak for other sectors but anybody who wants to invest in the architectural industry in terms of materials, in terms of technology and in terms of expertise are needed. You see all the hotels coming in. We’ve got the Marriott coming in. there’s expertise needed for that. There’s expertise needed for hospitals. There’s a lot to be done. I believe anybody that has an interest should come to Nigeria.

We would like you to tell us about Lagos Polo Club.

Polo and horse riding has been a passion of mine for years. I’ve been involved with the polo club for about twenty years. I have served on various committees and I am now the president of the club. The polo club itself is over a hundred years old. It is one of the oldest polo clubs in Africa and possibly one of the oldest polo clubs in the world. We have one of the oldest trophies in the world and we are very proud of that. It’s called the Kaiser Willem trophy. It was given to us by the Kaiser of Germany and as I don’t think they have Kaisers in Germany anymore you can imagine how old it is. It is a sterling silver trophy and it is played for by the top teams in the club. The club is going through some refurbishments and there is a new interest in polo. Polo is no longer seen as an elitist sport. There are many professionals that play polo for fun. They don’t own horses but they join clubs that own horses and they go out on the weekends and play club chukkas. You don’t have to have the expense of taking care of horses anymore. The club takes care of the horses and you can rent a horse for the weekend and enjoy your polo. We are embarking on a major renovation and refurbishment of the club. We are trying to upgrade the facilities, the requirements for the support staff, the grooms and the grounds men. Polo isn’t just the guys you seen in boots on the horses. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Veterinarians, people that take care of the horses, people that feed the horses and of course the grooms. The grooms are very important because they exercise and train the horses. There is a whole barrage of people that support polo. People that drive the horse trucks. People that supply the hay and the grass that feed the horses. People that maintain the stables and the fields. Without a field there is no polo. Then there is the staff that runs the office as well. What we are trying to do is upgrade everything, polo itself and then the infrastructure. We had a tournament in February and it was said that it was the best tournament we have had at the polo club in years. We are looking forward to the next tournament in ten months. We have friends from all over the world Argentina, South Africa, United Kingdom and Europe coming to play as well as other African countries. We are looking forward to that. Polo is developing fast and in Nigeria we have approximately ten to fifteen active clubs and I don’t think people are aware of that.

What would be your final message about destination Nigeria?

Nigeria is the world’s best kept secret with regards to both architecture and polo and I think investors should be falling over themselves to come here. There are opportunities for investment in every sector from farming and housing to infrastructure, sports, education and health care. We have a population of approximately a hundred and twenty million people. We have one of the most advanced and educated number of Africans on the continent. We have a very young and dynamic population who are willing to work hard to grow the economy. I would encourage investors to invest.

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