Art Of Scaling-Up: What It Means For Various Firms

Starting a firm is far easier than scaling up. Unknown challenges surround a firm while it is trying to deliver on one side, retain on another side, and third, trying to scale up. This session at WADe Asia 2017 had a set of panelists from different stages of life as well as from stages, in ‘scaling up the businesses’. The discussion was moderated by Ramprasad Akkisetti, Founder Managing Director of Christopher Charles Benninger Architects Private Limited (CCBA) with other eminent panelists such as Ar. Sonali Bhagwati, Spazzio, New Delhi. Ar. Lalita Tharani, Co-founder, Collaborative Architecture, Mumbai & Ar. Rahul Subberwal, The Architectural Studio, New Delhi.

BRIEF BACKGROUND & STAGES OF PRACTICE

Kick-starting the session with his own journey, Mr. Akkisetti shared his vast, almost two decade old experience in managing an Architecture Firm CCBA which he started with Christopher Charles Beninnger about 24 years ago. Initially, studying to be a doctor, Ram realized his ‘true-calling’ was Architecture. “I had to lose something to gain something better and I am very happy to be a part of this fraternity, this profession as an auxiliary.

Lalita Tharani, Co-founder, Collaborative Architecture started the firm about 15 years ago with her partner and husband, Mujib Ahmed, merging their individual firms together by collaborating their works thus the name – Collaborative Architecture. A concept that the firm believes in. They also collaborate with International firm J. Mayer.

Sonali Bhagwati graduated from CEPT, Ahmedabad – and then started the firm called Spazzio” which meant a team and she always believed that it is a team that makes a project and it’s not you. You can be a leader but you can’t do anything without the team.

Ar. Rahul Subberwal, Co-founder & Principal Architect, The  Architectural Studio, the youngest of the four panlelists, learnt architecture in Gujarat. Working for ARCOP for few months, he and wife (his senior in college) decided to start their own practice taking a chance by not working with a scaled up firm and starting on their own.

DEFINING SCALING UP FOR DIFFERENT FIRMS