Architects urged to be ‘commercially savvy’ about development

John Mulcahy, former head of property at Nama, dispensed sage-like advice to Irish architects at their annual conference last weekend, telling them that they needed to be “commercially savvy” about property development.

“If a project doesn’t make sense, it won’t fly – and you won’t get paid,” he warned more than 400 members of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).

“If you have a project that can’t be broken into phases, it won’t happen – the risk is simply too big.”

The address by Mulcahy, who is now advising billionaire Denis O’Brien on his large and growing property portfolio, was one of the conference highlights as was an engrossing interview by Orla Brady with veteran architect and former UCD professor Cathal O’Neill.

Also inspiring was a series of talks by younger generation architects such as Robert Bourke, David Flynn, Andrew Griffin and Nicola Ryan about how they’ve coped with the recession and how they have diversified in order to earn a crust.

Niall Scott, of Scott Tallon walker, talked about the importance of including commissioned works of art in new buildings.