David vs. Goliath

Jeff Roberts , October 21st, 2009

They’re the Davids to the industry’s Goliaths. They’re the little guys. If the Fosters, Genslers and HOKs are the super-sized meals, they’re the small fries—just as delicious, just in shorter supply. They’re the firms that go unnoticed until they sneak up and snatch a lucrative contract from the big boys.

Every market has an amalgamation of large, mid-level and smaller architecture firms but in the Middle East—where master plans are larger than life and price tags often creep into the hundreds of millions of US dollars—the smaller firms face a unique set of challenges and, as Middle East Architect found out, employ myriad strategies to adapt and flourish in increasingly uncertain times.

Everyday challenges

The challenges faced by smaller architecture firms operating in the Middle East probably come a dime a dozen. For every challenge mentioned here, it can be assumed that two or three more have been overlooked or left off the list.

Perhaps the most difficult challenge faced is overcoming the stigma that is automatically attached to smaller firms. If I’m Joe Developer and I launch a competition to design a mixed-use community on a large parcel of land, it’s easy to wait for the massive firm with the comprehensive portfolio to submit something.

According to Ahmed Al Ali, executive chairman and co-founder of X-Architects, that ‘wait-for-the-sure-thing’ mentality is very prevalent in the region’s development community. “The big challenge is the perception that small firms don’t deliver as good a product as large firms,” he says.

“Most of the large projects are earmarked for large firms with strong profiles.”

One of the most difficult pieces of that challenge, however, isn’t just convincing a developer to choose a small firm over a larger one, it’s making sure that the developer is familiar with the people or work of the small firm in the first place.

“New or solo practitioners lack the prestige and name recognition enjoyed by the more established firms,” explains Suhail MS Thabet, director of architecture for TRACE Design Studios. “[Small firms] have to exert more effort in bidding for and, ultimately, winning projects than the larger reputable competitors.”

Recruitment also tends to be particularly difficult for smaller firms, explains Supriya Fernandes, principal designer and architect at 3 Square. “Attracting and retaining qualified people especially when larger firms are also in the market for the same talent is particularly challenging.”

Attracting and retaining talented professionals doesn’t only come down to a firm’s name or penchant for recruitment, but also the sometimes confusing way labour laws operate in the Middle East.

“Another concern is with recruitment law in this region,” explains Thabet. “Employment law does not seem to recognize the need for temporary high quality staff, which is vital for the survival of practices with uncertain projections of future work.”

Another particularly difficult challenge for smaller firms is the inevitable fear of isolation. Within larger firms, it is quite common to call a standing-room-only design meeting just to brainstorm and inspire creativity. It is not uncommon for colleagues in a larger firm to compare ideas they used in a project in South America or saw at an exhibition in Europe or Asia, and then debate the appropriateness of those ideas for the Middle East.

But, in smaller firms, the potential for in-house collaboration can be fundamentally limited. “Ensuring our designers keep up to date with international design trends is crucial for us to compete with larger firms,” explains Fernandes. “Limited staff reduces the opportunity to share knowledge and seek guidance...but also reduces the opportunity to socialize and network within the industry,” adds Thabet.

Worried about the future?

With the weakened economy and resulting ferocity with which large firms are competing for all types of projects, it stands to reason that some of the region’s smaller firms might be worried about their own longevity or ability to compete.

But, according to many of the region’s smaller firms, the seemingly negative proposition of competing with larger, well-known firms in a conservative market with finite resources can be seen as a positive.

According to Daousser Chennoufi, CEO of Draw Link Group, the weakened economy has forced architecture firms—particularly the smaller ones—to adapt their visions and devise new strategies. “We need a new vision, a new concept, for our work to match with the new market conditions. We need to find a new philosophy for our work because the old visions and strategies are not working anymore.”

For much of the building sector, the economic downturn meant a large-scale, industry-wide slow down from the breakneck pace of the past. For many firms, that slow down was a welcome reprieve. For 3 Square, the slow down offered a chance to look objectively at the systems and processes it had in place and tweak them to ensure greater productivity in the future.

“When times were buoyant, as a boutique firm it was difficult to focus on mid- to long-term plans as the hectic day-to-day running of the business took up all our time,” says Fernandes.

TRACE is using the opportunity of a slower market to refine the way it approaches its design projects and refocus its efforts on an experimental approach. “In order to overcome the newly emerging economic challenges, we’ve had to rethink new ways of working within the practice and how we produce information,” explains Thabet. “At TRACE, we...use the ‘operating theatre method’ as opposed to the ‘factory line method’. This experimental approach opens the possibilities for a more innovative product.”

Similarly, X-Architects is using the slowdown to distinguish itself through a combined strategy of an increased personal touch and a focus on quality of design rather than quantity of work. “Since we are a niche design firm,” explains Al Ali, “the quality we produce is much higher than that of a corporate firm and it’s also much more sensitive and personalized.”

Smaller firms making big waves

Well into the future, after the global economy rights itself and the building industry is once again fat and happy, companies that survived the credit crunch will be lauded for that accomplishment alone.

While that happen, architecture firms across the land—particularly the smaller ones who don’t have the luxury of shifting priorities or surviving off deep coffers or a plethora of past projects—need to focus on the task at hand. Namely, they need to figure out how to win that next competition.

For 3 Square, that means a continuation of the status quo. “I think all design firms are looking for that one project where they can showcase their talent,” says Fernandes. “In our case that really involves us continuing to do what we do best: providing our clients with unique design and generating referrals through those clients on an ongoing basis.”

In the case of Draw Link Group, the strategy is opposite. Rather than a continuation of the same, the Tunisian firm is embracing what is new, bold and uncharted. “We are focusing on very specific projects. We are looking to launch new concepts following the new economic situation,” says Chennoufi.

He adds: “We’re looking to create a new lifestyle; we’ve got a new vision for hospitality and commercial projects. We must be different from the others and get out of the old market way of doing and thinking.”

The TRACE strategy is more measured. By using what it considers a specific methodology and unique cultural insight, the TRACE team is focusing on the mass housing typology as a place where it can make waves in the industry.

“To ensure survival, a small practice needs to find its niche product and place in the market,” explains Thabet. “I feel that the demand for residential properties in this region is becoming stronger and the need for appropriately designed buildings will become imperative in the future.”

The last word

A common sentiment among many of the smaller firms in the market is the way in which the economic crisis has levelled the architectural playing field and how all companies—not just smaller firms—will need to concentrate on producing better and higher-quality buildings.

The speed with which the first generation of Middle Eastern buildings has been designed and built is unparalleled, but not without its problems. Kitschy forms and patterns on a building does not make it Islamic architecture and the days of building with standards other than internationally accepted ones are gone. Regardless of size, the firms that heed that advice will be the ones creating the region’s second generation of buildings.

“As the former president of RIBA, Sunand Prasad, said in his keynote address on the future of small companies, ‘a big practice doesn’t make you any happier, it just makes you bigger’,” reminds Thabet.