In an era where workplace design is too often reduced to trendy furniture and sleek aesthetics, Micdee has distinguished itself by rethinking the very fabric of how spaces work for people, for businesses, and for the continent.
From humble beginnings designing for fast-growing startups, Micdee now partners with legacy firms and multinationals, shaping Africa’s new work culture from the inside out.
In this exclusive interview, Michael Awonowo, CEO of Micdee, shares the journey behind the company, the ethos that drives their infrastructure strategy, and what the future of work means in an African context.
Micdee has carved out a unique reputation for transforming workspaces into environments that drive progress. How did this vision take shape?
It started with one of our first major projects, a tech startup called Softcom. It began as a standard office for about 40 people, but over time it evolved into something much more: a Tech campus for over 150 people. Every decision we made was intentional from how people used the space, how it allowed for growth and quick scaling.
I remember someone on their sales team said to me, “Michael, this office does half of my work. If I bring a client here, the deal is basically done.” That was a lightbulb moment. We thought: if we could do this for 150 people, why not for 1,000? Why not 10,000? Why not 1 million? That’s what Micdee has grown into today. We develop the best working experiences for Africans. It’s not just about building offices; it’s about optimizing how people work.
In a market where many design firms focus purely on aesthetics, Micdee emphasizes engineering. What does that mean in practice?
Aesthetics are nice; they have their own value. However, engineering focuses on how things work: how functional and impactful they are. Of course, we care deeply about aesthetics, but for us, that’s a given. If we’re going to design a space, it will look beautiful.
But beauty alone doesn’t make people productive. The key reason people come to work is to work. So we emphasize the engineering and strategic thinking behind every space layouts, planning, execution, quality assurance. Aesthetic appeal is just one piece of the puzzle.
And how does that differentiate Micdee’s work?
It’s the impact. When people use our spaces, they are more productive. Sometimes, clients don’t want to go back to their old offices. One client literally said, “You guys need to finish this project because I don’t want to return to that old space.” You can’t fully communicate that in pictures, but the users feel it.
That’s our differentiation; the value our clients get and the productivity our designs enable. It’s what their employees, visitors, and even investors feel when they walk into a Micdee-designed space.
How do you approach projects that need to reflect the identity of different industries?
The first thing we do is try to become employees of our clients, at least mentally. We believe that you can’t design for someone unless you understand what their challenges are. There’s a popular saying that it is the person that’s wearing the shoe that knows where this pinch is. So we start by having meetings with our clients and with their people. We sit with them, ask tough questions, and ensure that we understand them sometimes even beyond what they tell us.
By the time we’re done, we think like users of that space. We would have sat in enough meetings to know their culture, goals, even what keeps them up at night. What that means is that we can now think like them. This means whatever design we provide is industry agnostic because the key point is, if you get deep down to what the user requires, you create solutions that work for them.
We don’t want people to walk into a space and say, “Ah, this looks like a Micdee project.” Instead, they should say, “This looks perfect and there’s only one team that could have done this and that’s Micdee”
From your perspective, how are modern workspaces evolving in Africa, and what role does Micdee play in shaping that evolution?
“Modern” is contextual. An iPhone in New York does not have the same impact as an iPhone in a village in Ilorin. Similarly, workspace design must respond to how Africans live and work.
Most Africans work 24/7 because their main jobs can not afford them the quality of life they need. So, they take on side gigs—or even side gigs on top of side gigs. Some people just spend so much time in the office every week, constantly thinking about work. And when we think about what that work is doing, what the money is working for, we believe the space should also serve as a place that allows people to live, even though they’re working.
It’s that rich balance between living and working. That’s what we think the future of work in Africa should be. Because if you’re going to spend 14 to 16 hours of your day thinking about work, that’s almost your entire week. It’s very important that the space you’re working in gives you the kind of quality of life you’re striving for, even while you’re working.
We’re creating spaces that make you feel like you haven’t lost your life essence just because you’re at work.
Sustainability and flexibility have become buzzwords in design. How does Micdee translate them into real solutions?
Honestly, I’ve come to detest those words. They’re used so broadly that they have lost their meaning. Primarily, sustainability means designing spaces that don’t need to be redesigned every year. That means creating something that can be built upon. It’s not just about using a “sustainable material” that ends up being used wrongly and needs replacing annually. That is not sustainability.
Sustainability must be contextual, especially in Africa. We don’t have the biggest budgets, but we can design offices that stand the test of time; spaces that remain functional for years without being completely overhauled. That is why we align the goals of the business with reality and design something contextual.
And I don’t just mean contextual to Africa. There are core architectural principles that must be tailored both to the continent and to the specific needs of the business. It has to be something that works for the business, not just a random office they are forced to adapt to.
When it comes to flexibility, there are five core functions everyone performs at work: focus, collaboration, socialization, rejuvenation, and learning. In Africa, where we often deal with smaller rooms and limited space, especially in a landscape dominated by small and medium enterprises, it is critical to design flexible spaces that serve multiple purposes effectively. That’s what real flexibility looks like: efficient, human-centred design.
In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception about commercial design and infrastructure in Nigeria or West Africa today?
The biggest misconception is that AI can do it. I think we’ve gotten to a point where the general populace believes AI is magical; that it can do anything. We’ve been building up to this moment, and that belief is wrong, because context matters.
Yes, you can put a prompt into AI and get a review or an office design layout. It can do that. But what it lacks is the strategy and the planning. And I’m not just referring to execution or the design process. I’m talking about understanding needs, restrictions, and the requirements and goals of a business.
What human nature has in excess is the ability to detect taste, to sense frustration. We can understand the questions our clients are not asking, and we can approach solutions accordingly.
So, no AI won’t take our jobs. At least not yet.
Micdee operates at the intersection of architecture, strategy, and technology. What challenges or opportunities has that created?
I think the biggest challenge is just having to up-skill ourselves every now and then. We are working with diverse companies that are growing, like the world is growing, extensively. These businesses keep evolving, which means we have to evolve as well. And so, at every point, the growth that our clients are experiencing comes with challenges.
We have to evolve as business designers, understanding these challenges and becoming better solution providers. However, that’s also the opportunity. Because if you can serve these businesses at this scale, then there’s a massive opportunity. That’s why we’ve grown really fast in the last eight years. We started with tech startups, then moved into legacy businesses that were trying to build and reinvent themselves. And now, we’re working with multinationals.
Right in the middle of one of our initiatives, the COVID pandemic came and threw a spanner in the works. We had to evolve through that. The idea of the hybrid workplace became more prevalent after COVID, and that was a challenge, but it was also an opportunity for us. And this has continued to evolve over time.
We don’t know what’s going to come next. We don’t know what big shift is coming in the world. But at every stage, we’re preparing ourselves, training, upskilling, to be in the right place to provide the answers and solutions to whatever challenges people might have.
What advice would you give young architects and designers who want to create spaces that truly impact how people work and interact?
In school, we learned that architecture is the art and science of designing. Many times, we focus a lot on the art and forget the science, forgetting that it has to solve real-life problems. Some people call that the role of construction. This is a wrong mentality.
Study users. Don’t just follow trends. Understand what people actually require and design with that in mind. Many times, we like to follow trends. But the real truth is that trends die, but context endures.
What types of clients or sectors are you most focused on attracting as Micdee grows? Are there services you hope to expand into or areas of commercial infrastructure you feel are still underserved?
We’re sector-agnostic. We solve problems wherever they exist from 10-person startups to 10,000-person multinationals. That said, I think the manufacturing sector in Nigeria is severely underserved.
There’s so little variety in locally available materials. We’re forced to import finishes, flooring, even basic components. The gap is massive and, again, that is also a huge opportunity.
But to fix it, we need more foresight. People want to see 50 clients before they invest in infrastructure. But it’s infrastructure that creates the opportunity in the first place. That’s what China did. We need to think that way.
When people walk into a Micdee-designed space, what is the one feeling or experience you hope they always take away?
It depends on who’s walking in.
For employees: “I’m right where I need to be. I can grow here.”
For business owners: “This space communicates our vision.”
For investors: “This company knows what it’s doing. We will invest in them and back them.”
And for clients: “This feels like a business I want to work with.”
Different emotions, but the same essence: clarity, confidence, and conviction.
Finally, what does success look like for Micdee, beyond awards and portfolio size?
Awards have never been our priority. Our goal is to support a productive Africa where people love the work they do. We work too hard as a species and we work too long to not feel fulfilled while doing so. Success, for us, is building a continent where people give their best work and get the best rewards. Because they love what they do, and where they do it.