After 25 years in the architecture industry, Kirby Roper sees room for improvement.
Her early-stage startup, Oltre, pledges to make it easier for homebuyers to access to boutique designs, while opening a new sales channel for architects themselves.
While still in its formative stages, Oltre secured the top prize at SmartCompany’s the Pitch competition on Wednesday night.
Relatively few homes built in Australia come from a name-brand architecture firm, Roper says, with industry estimates saying only 5% of new builds come with architectural provenance.
Architects say the benefits of buying a custom-designed home, as opposed to one from a developer’s brochure, include improved energy efficiency, potential resale value, and the all-important personal touch.
But commissioning an architect is not always simple, and certainly not always affordable, especially for first-time buyers.
“Normally, most people find architects through word of mouth, or going through the Institute of Architects, or the Architects Registration Board,” Roper tells SmartCompany.
“Just looking at their criteria can be really daunting in itself: hopping on their websites, looking at them, and then shortlisting and engaging with them, having discussions, understanding, getting fee proposals to understand… it’s a hard process.
“Perhaps as an industry, they could refine that process.”
Oltre is her answer.
On one end are the architects, who provide a suite of replicable, high-quality designs to the digital platform, in return for commissions every time one of their blueprints is acquired.
Oltre could provide popular residential architects with a new and relatively steady revenue stream, Roper says.
“There’s not a lot of architects that are solely in the residential sector. So a lot of them do it, but because someone only needs a home, say, once every 10 years, there’s not a lot of repeat customers.”
Streamlined negotiation processes through the Oltre system will also cut down on the time architects spend in client briefings, further reducing operating costs, Roper says.
On the other are the homebuyers, who can select the designs they like, and customise them further — to an extent.
“By the time you’ve changed some of the outside and some of the inside, you’ve got your home, you’ve customized it to meet what you like,” she says.
“That goes from cupboard colours to your wall colours, to some of your light fittings, to your tapware, too. It starts to really make it your house.”
Further customisation will push the design into a fully bespoke territory, but Roper says Oltre will facilitate those conversations, too.
“Oltre doesn’t actually try and take away from that market: it’s opening up a whole new market segment” for architects, she says.
The platform is still in its infancy, but Roper hopes Oltre, its catalogue of designs, and innovative negotiation platform, will make architecture easier to access for regular homebuyers.
Are you ready to pitch to a panel of leading VCs and startup founders? Applications to the Pitch are now open for Sydney!
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Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
