Smart buildings are not built smart.
They are specified smart.
SQRD is the independent technology and AI consultancy for building owners, developers and operators. We assess what is installed across the asset, design how it connects, and write the vendor neutral specification the market tenders against. We do not sell, resell or integrate any of it.
Trusted on workplace and building technology by
and landmark developments across Asia Pacific
The problem
01 / 07Every intelligent building brochure describes the same asset.
Almost none of them describe yours.
The technology in a building is bought in fragments. A fit-out here, a landlord upgrade there, a system replaced because it failed rather than because it was planned. Each decision was reasonable on its own day. Together they are an architecture nobody designed.
By the time an owner wants to do something genuinely intelligent with the asset, the constraints are already set. The building management system will not share data. The access control platform is contractually closed. The integration would cost more than the application.
This is not a technology problem and it does not get solved by buying a better product. It is decided at specification, years before anybody types the word AI into a business case. Buildings that are intelligent were specified that way, by someone who was not selling them anything.
What we do for owners
02 / 07Systems and data assessment across the asset
Every operational system in the building. What is installed, what data it produces, whether that data can be reached, and where the constraints sit. One honest picture of the asset, replacing six vendor opinions that do not agree.
Integration architecture and readiness rating
How the systems connect, where the integration layer sits, and what the asset is genuinely ready to support today. Rated layer by layer, so investment goes where it unblocks the most.
Digital ecosystem specification, tender ready
The vendor neutral performance document the supplier market tenders against. Written so responses compare on evidence, and so what was promised at tender is still true at handover.
Build versus buy, and procurement through to appointment
Where to buy a product, where to specify a capability, and where to build. Then the tender process itself, evaluation, appointment, and holding the appointed suppliers to what they committed to.
Who this is for
Asset owners and landlords. Developers at concept and design stage. Operators and asset managers. Project directors going to market.
What we examine. The SQRD Stack.
03 / 07An asset is four layers deep. Value is created at the top, in intelligence, and it is destroyed at the bottom, in systems and data nobody assessed. Each layer has to be understood before the one above it can be trusted.
Systems
What is installed, what is planned, and what each system constrains.
What have we actually got?
Data
What each system produces, whether it is accessible, and how it gets out.
What can we actually see?
Integration
How systems and data connect. Point to point, or through one integration layer.
What will it cost to change this later?
Intelligence
Where AI genuinely improves operations and experience, once the layers below are sound.
Where does AI actually pay?
How we engage. Five stages.
04 / 07Owners and developers usually arrive at stage 01 or stage 03. Either the asset is standing and nobody has a complete picture of it, or it is at design stage and the architecture has not been set.
Assessment
Operational technology assessment
What have we actually got, and what will it let us do?
Strategy
AI and technology strategy for real estate
Where does AI actually pay here, and in what order?
Design
Systems and integration design
How do these systems connect without locking us in?
Pilot
AI pilots and proof of value
Does this work in our building, with our people?
Specification
Procurement specification and tender support
How do we buy this without being sold to?
Enter at any stage. Most clients start at 01.
Selected work
05 / 07Global investment bank
Financial services // Global scope
Assessment / Strategy / Design / Pilot / Specification
Global pharmaceutical client
Pharmaceutical, life sciences // Singapore and Asia Pacific
Assessment / Strategy / Specification
Global technology manufacturer
Technology manufacturing // Global scope
Strategy / Pilot
Client names are withheld where the engagement is covered by confidentiality. Happy to talk through any of these directly.
Why SQRD
06 / 07We do not sell the systems we specify.
There is no hardware line in our business, no integration arm, and no vendor commission. Our only product is the recommendation, which means it is the only thing we have to get right.
Vendor neutral
We specify what the building needs, then we help you take it to market and hold suppliers to it.
Specification led
We define the requirement before anyone selects a product, because the order matters and reversing it is expensive.
Delivery tested
Twenty five years and more than one hundred projects. Everything we recommend has to survive contact with a live building.
Questions we get asked
07 / 07Our building is already built. Is it too late?
No, and most of our work is on standing assets. The constraints are tighter than at design stage and the sequence matters more, which is exactly why the assessment comes first. What you cannot do is find out what is possible by asking the vendors who want to sell you the next system.
Does this add cost to a development?
It moves cost earlier and usually reduces the total. The expensive version is discovering at year five that the architecture cannot support what the asset now needs, and that changing it means replacing systems rather than reconfiguring them.
How does this relate to WiredScore or SmartScore certification?
They answer a different question. Those are benchmarked certifications awarded against a published standard, and they are useful for market positioning. This is the working document that tells you what your systems can actually deliver. Owners pursuing SmartScore often assess first, because it shows where the evidence is thin.
We have a master systems integrator. Why do we need you?
Because in most cases the MSI scope was written by the MSI. That is a structural conflict, not a criticism: the party defining accountability is the party who benefits from how it is defined. We write that scope client side and hold the integrator to it.
Will this help with tenant demand and rental value?
It is the mechanism behind those claims rather than the claim itself. Occupiers are increasingly asking for data access, integration commitments and evidence of what the building can support. Assets that can answer those questions in writing compete differently. We are not going to put a number on a rent premium we have not measured.
Do you sell or install any of the technology?
No. There is no hardware line in our business, no integration arm, and no vendor commission. We do not bid for the work we specify. The recommendation is our only product, which makes it the only thing we have to get right.
What size of asset does this suit?
Single landmark assets and portfolios both. The method is the same, the depth changes. Below a certain scale an assessment and a specification are enough, and we will tell you that rather than sell you a strategy stage you do not need.
Tell us about the space, the asset, or the problem.
We will tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it.
If you occupy space rather than the other way round, there is a door for that. AI for workplaces