Last year, Love That Design launched its first research project, Design 2021, at Downtown Design to a packed house! This year, we decided to spread the net wider – go bigger, deeper, and global with our information gathering. And we want you to be a part of it!

“The best way to predict the future is to create it”

– Peter Drucker management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation.

Love That Design’s first whitepaper focused on the state of the A&D industry in the region. The insights that we gained from this first edition were an eyeopener. What we all assumed, versus actual data calibrated facts shone the spotlight on some pivotal information that would prove invaluable to the region’s A+D industry and all the players associated with it.

You can download Design 2021 here.

If you would like to participate in Design 2022 and give us your side of the story, spare a few minutes and click the appropriate button below to fill a survey form.

Why we created this paper…

We did this for several reasons, not the least of which included identifying and breaking certain bad habits. COVID may have infiltrated the world and caused many businesses to come to a grinding halt, but in the Middle East region, there is another pandemic that is slowly crippling our A&D community – a distinct lack of empathy.

This lack of empathy is the result of working in a high pressure environment, where everything needs to be done faster, better, and for half the cost. The clients don’t know what the designers are going through, the designers don’t know what the suppliers go through, and the client has been promised a handover at a speed that can only be achieved by compromising somewhere. This results in an imbalanced equation between the various parties involved, where rather than collaborating, they develop a master / slave relationship.

This was one of the key issues that came to light during our previous survey.

What the Designers, Contractors, Project Managers Had to Say

Through a series of questionnaires pitted to these industry players, it also emerged that often designers have to, quite literally, project manage as well. Furthermore, the pace at which things need to be completed makes Design + Build the only choice. Not to mention value engineering which, unfortunately, also stems from a lack of transparency and constantly using the lowest bid as a benchmark of value.

How can we address this and consequently fix it? A good place to start would be to identify such issues, bring them to the forefront, and then collaborate, join hands, and collectively work together for a solution.

The more you know, the more empowered you are

Data is a powerful beast. And we intend to use it to our advantage to help the industry strive. Businesses can prosper with the correct knowledge, and learn to ‘future proof’ their company from the changes that are to come in the following years. These businesses are the ones that will be ready, and survive the test of time.

What’s new about 2022?

We are moving global – collecting information from our counterparts across the pond and beyond. In our previous survey, we scored a 6.1 out of 10 thought that on the standard of design inspiration in the region. Majority thought that the region’s design was lagging behind western the world. But is it really, or is that just the perception? Design 2022 allows us to compare and reflect… Is the grass really greener on the other side?

Every little bit counts!

This is where we need you to step up. Every single entry adds a valuable percentile to the overall picture, and helps us to create a more realistic and accurate deduction of the state of our industry.

If you would like to participate and give us your side of the story, spare a few minutes and click the appropriate button below to fill a survey form.