Building for the Long Term: Fred Coker Reflects on Architecture

Part One

Over nearly four decades, Fred Coker has helped shape Nigeria’s built environment through projects that have become landmarks in their own right, while quietly mentoring a generation of architects who now lead practices across the country. As founder and managing director of Adeniyi Coker Consultants Limited (ACCL), he has built a reputation for architecture that is practical, enduring and grounded in sound professional judgement.

Yet, behind the impressive portfolio is a remarkably unassuming personality. In conversation, Coker is warm, reflective and refreshingly candid. He speaks as comfortably about the lessons of failure as he does about success and is quick to remind young architects that good design is only one part of building a successful practice.

In this first part of our conversation with TEAMBOOKTU, he reflects on his early exposure to architecture, his years in Scotland, returning to Nigeria at a time of great optimism, the formative influence of Towry Coker, and why mentorship remains indispensable to the profession.

Growing Up Around Buildings

Did you always know you wanted to become an architect?

Not really, although architecture was always around me.

My father was a medical doctor with a passion for building. There was always one project or another under construction, so during the holidays my brother and I would be sent to the sites to keep an eye on the workmen and make sure building materials didn’t disappear.

We were more like cheap labour (laughs), but we enjoyed every minute of it.

He also had architects visiting the house regularly, so we were constantly seeing drawings spread across the dining table and listening to conversations about buildings. Looking back, I realise we were being introduced to architecture long before we knew what the profession really involved.

I must have been about ten or eleven when that interest first began.

A Scottish Education

You studied architecture in Scotland. What were those years like?

I studied at the University of Dundee, where I obtained my B.Sc. and later my B.Arch., which was the equivalent of a Master’s degree. Between the two programmes, I spent a year working in London with T. P. Bennett & Sons. It was a valuable experience because I was exposed to large commercial projects, including a shopping centre in Kingston.

Then, during the summer of 1981, I returned to Nigeria to work with Towry Coker and Associates on the conference centre for the Le Méridien Hotel in Abuja. That experience changed everything.

When I graduated the following year, I received offers from firms in London, Egypt and elsewhere, but Towry Coker called to say the Abuja project was moving to site. I packed my bags and came home.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.

Why I Came Home

Most young graduates would have accepted the overseas offers. Why did you choose Nigeria?

You have to remember what Nigeria was like at the time. The country was doing well.

Two dollars exchanged for one naira, and a monthly salary of about five hundred naira was equivalent to roughly a thousand dollars. A return ticket to London cost around six hundred naira, so travelling wasn’t the major undertaking it is today. More importantly, we genuinely believed the future would be even brighter. None of us imagined that, decades later, we’d be looking back and saying those were the good old days. So returning home didn’t feel like a sacrifice.

It felt like the obvious thing to do.

Learning Under Towry Coker

How important was your time with Towry Coker and Associates?

It shaped me enormously. I spent about five or six years there and was fortunate to work on some remarkable projects, including Savannah Bank Headquarters, AIB Plaza and Mobil Housing. It was a wonderful environment for a young architect because I was given real responsibility very early.

Eventually, though, I felt it was time to move on. The practice was beginning to diversify into other interests, and I wanted to focus entirely on architecture. I learnt a great deal there, but every architect reaches a point where he has to decide whether to continue building someone else’s vision or begin pursuing his own.

For me, that time came in 1987.

Starting Out on Your Own

How difficult was it establishing your own practice?

It certainly wasn’t easy, but then success rarely is. Looking back, though, it was also a good time to start a practice. Nigeria’s banking industry was expanding rapidly, new banks were being licensed and there was tremendous demand for headquarters and branch buildings. The economy created opportunities for young firms that were prepared to work hard.

Of course, starting a business always comes with uncertainty. You don’t have an established reputation. You have to earn people’s confidence one project at a time. But those early years taught me lessons that have stayed with me throughout my career.

The Value of Mentorship

Many graduates today are eager to start their own firms. Do you still believe mentorship is essential?

Architecture takes time. If you’ve never followed a building from concept to completion, it’s difficult to appreciate everything involved in bringing good design to life. That’s why I believe young architects need several years of structured practical experience before they truly understand the profession.

Beyond Software

Has technology changed the way young architects develop professionally?

Technology has certainly made presentation easier. Many young architects are exceptionally good with software like Revit and AutoCAD, and that’s a positive development. But presentation isn’t the same as architecture.

Software is an important tool. It can never replace experience.

Rethinking Architectural Education

What changes would you like to see in architectural education?

I’d like to see much stronger integration between universities and practice. Perhaps students could spend four years in university before moving into an architectural practice for two years as part of their professional education. That practical experience could then count towards their Master’s qualification before a final assessment.

I think graduates would leave school much better prepared. Universities are doing their best, but many also struggle to attract experienced practitioners as lecturers. That’s where the profession itself needs to become more involved. We have a responsibility to help develop the next generation.

Coming in Part Two

In the concluding part of this conversation, Fred Coker reflects on the projects that have defined his career, why client engagement is as important as design, the evolution of multidisciplinary practice, sustainability, the future of architecture in Nigeria and his advice for the next generation of architects.

Fred Adeniyi Coker

Fred Adeniyi Coker is a prominent, award-winning Nigerian modernist architect and the Managing Director of Adeniyi Coker Consultants Limited (ACCL), one of Nigeria's most influential architectural practices. Known for reshaping Lagos city's skyline, his work merges cutting-edge contemporary technology, urban sustainability, and local cultural identity. Fred Coker is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (FNIA) and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He is also a past president of the Association of Consulting Architects of Nigeria (ACAN).