Founded in 2018, UNI.xyz is bringing architects and consumers on a single platform where consumers can get access to great custom-built home designs within weeks. The platform currently hosts more than 250,000+ architects globally and now aim to design homes the world over.
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Abhishek Sorampuri (L), Founder & CEO, UNI & Krishna Sirugudi (R), COO, UNI
"With so many buildings to make, access to good architecture design is very limited and has been like that since last 100 years in India. The design industry is considered a luxury and we want to change that," Abhishek Sorampuri, Founder & CEO, UNI.
The world is currently undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in human history. More than half of the global population is now concentrated in urban areas, and by 2060 two thirds of the expected population of 10 billion will live in cities. The world is projected to add 230 billion square meters (2.5 trillion square feet) of buildings, or an area equal to the entire current global building stock. (Source: UN Environment, Global Status Report 2017).
Everyone wants beautiful homes, but don't know from where to start. The budget is usually the most crucial deciding factor of what we are going to build.
An architect, in reality, tries to maximize the value you are getting with any expense you make for your home. When the expenses are managed efficiently, they may release more room to expand opportunities in achieving better design. This is where our idea of UNI begins.
"For us, this more than just a platform to source design. It's a commitment to build better and efficient buildings that people desire. The processes demand a complete overhaul, and design is where it can start," Krishna Sirugudi, COO, UNI.
The Idea
UNI implements this idea with a web platform for architects and designers who can bring you the best bespoke design ideas for your next home, office, school pretty much everything.
They bring together the world's largest pool of designers via a model of design tenders/architecture competitions that are curated by the finest architecture academicians and professionals globally. With over 250,000+ registered members, UNI brings academia, professionals and, consumers through a unique collaborative platform.
Since 2018, UNI has hosted more than 313+ architecture competitions for various idea level to realization level projects. In past, UNI has helped 114+ organizations, universities, and government bodies to use our platform to generate architecture and design solutions through competitions.
The Journey
The product has been designed around architects first to give them valuable profiling services and opportunities that help them build their brand through architecture competitions. While the architecture industry still continues to grow, securing the first few projects is definitely the biggest hurdle early career professionals face fresh out of college. UNI provides these promising architects with access and visibility on its one-of-a-kind professional network.
At the same time, a huge opportunity lies within the emerging working class of India who has never hired or is thinking to hire an architect but don't know where to start. This can be the entry point for them to try first-hand architecture services at the budget they can afford to pay.
At UNI a client can launch any kind of a design problem with a variety of programmes, budgets, and site scales. Our efficient competition launching platform has streamlined this process to ensure a competition can go live in a matter of hours where industry-standard takes months to craft these. As soon as the competition comes to a close, we network with experts in the relevant field to evaluate these projects on objective and subjective scales to find the best idea for the promoter. When a competition closes, we match the best ideas with the clients to build upon them. The jury feedbacks and the projects make the community more relevant and knowledgeable with every passing competition. This will help our member architects to participate in tier-specific/limited competitions in future.
Changing construction industry through good design
"To serve the future needs of the society, with sustainable buildings and combat climate change, the construction industry needs to evolve. For us, this intent goes way beyond business. It's a promise to ensure that the best design reaches every consumer at a value they can afford. At the same time, we intend to refactor how architecture design is sourced in the relevance of the coming decades where India grows into a new engine of global growth for construction in emerging markets," the Founders say.
UNI foresees a future where architects and consumers are getting real-world design deployed over the internet through sophisticated software and applications from anywhere in the world.
Learn more about UNI here: about.uni.xyz.
