Materials database hopes to make architects’ life easier

A company that aims to transform the way architects dec­ide which materials to use on construction projects has closed a £350,000 second seed round of investment, taking the total raised so far to more than £500,000.

SpecifiedBy aims to help architects choose the best materials for their projects. Picture: Jacky Ghossein

Edinburgh-based SpecifiedBy said the fundraising was led by existing investors IP Group and Northstar Ventures, and will be used to double the current team to ten and develop solutions to simplify the research process by architects and des­igners to make informed decisions about the building products and materials used in a project.

Chief executive and co-founder Darren Lester said: “We now have the time and space to develop a world-class platform and tackle areas such as the use of sustainable building products, building information modelling and specification with new ideas and generally play our part in digitising the construction industry.”

SpecifiedBy provides access to first-hand experience of working with particular products, materials and companies along the same lines as review site TripAdvisor.

Lester said he studied architectural technology at Edinburgh Napier University and experienced firsthand the problems of finding and researching building products.

He said existing solutions are “very outdated” and out of touch with the market, “so we decided to fix it ourselves”. The resource now includes more than 14,000 UK products and materials.

He added: “Researching all the different products out there is a huge task for architects and others involved in construction but we believe that by giving the industry access to better information, better decisions will be made.”