It was in September 2021 when the team huddled to make a major strategic planning session for the next few years. Three groups presented visions, aspirations, and solutions. The discussions concluded with the definition of the firm’s Ikigai or “reason of being”. We asked: “what can we give to the world using our talents, passions, and profession?”. As an architectural design service firm, what better thing can we give to our clients and the world than creating great architectural design with effectiveness and efficiency. Thus, we placed as our roadmap to 2023 the goal of becoming a Top Design Firm and a 100% BIM* firm. Around these are our corporate values and our three design principles: designing for a sustainable future, designing with focus on people and designing for community relevance and impact.
*BIM stands for Building Information Modelling, which is a software design system commonly used by international firms. It is an advanced construction design software that can integrate efficiently and effectively the different engineering design trades involved in the construction of a building.
The team worked toward the goal as soon as possible. Our design team worked on refining the firm’s design processes. Those doing the production of construction drawings worked on further integrating the BIM system into their work processes (as ArchiGlobal started to train its team in BIM in 2020). The marketing team thought of ways on how to place the name of the firm on the national level and make “ArchiGlobal” a household name associated with good architectural design.
2022 started with severe challenges because of a strong typhoon that struck Cebu in December 2021. The management did not abandon the team. Soon, we were able to rise up fast and regained the cadence to work for our vision. Projects started to pile up as both old and new clients trusted the firm’s design capabilities and they were positive about the country’s economic recovery. The year 2022 added around 198,000 sq.m. of the firm’s masterplan portfolio design experience, 147,000 of architectural and engineering design, 4,500 sq.m. of landscape design, and 2,600 sq.m. of interior architecture design. The actual design volume was 31% higher than what the firm projected for the ending year.
On its way to being a household name associated with good design, last June 2022, ArchiGlobal received the award as being one of the Top 10 Architectural firms of the Philippines for 2022 by BCI Asia, a construction industry research consultancy firm that ranks the firms according to their portfolio volume and how the firms’ projects support the economic and sustainability initiatives of the country.
In September 2022, the firm received its first international award recognizing its capability and reputation to produce excellent architectural designs. ArchiGlobal won the Best Medium Architectural Firm Category from the Loop Design Awards. The members of the judging panel of the said award come from well-known international architectural firms. By the end of the year, four more projects of the firm received the Philippine Property Awards (DOT and Property Guru) giving the firm a total of 12 projects recognized for its remarkable development design. Two of these were recognized as Best in Southeast Asia.
For BIM, the firm invested millions to get closer to becoming 100% BIM. According to our Technology and Innovations Officer, 60% of the firm’s computer units are now using the software system. The entire production team, though, is using 100% BIM for construction drawings. The technological upgrade included hiring in-house BIM professionals who continuously train the firm’s architects and architectural assistants on advanced BIM applications. These applications include clash detection among the different engineering trades.
Blessings! Perhaps this is the word that can wrap up succinctly what the year has been for the team. Part of the blessings are our team’s close collaboration and friendship, and the mentorship we received from our leaders, especially Ar. Mike and Ar. Joel. They always encouraged us to excel. We’ve worked hard and faced challenges but the weight became lighter because of teamwork. This feeling of being blessed left us with a deep sense of gratitude, first to God, and then to everyone in the ArchiGlobal family. The Ikigai roadmap we looked forward to will already be the next year, 2023. May the spirit of gratitude for 2022 incite us to finally reach our goals. We’ve been training a lot. Let us show the world what we can truly do!
