Architecture is about more than innovative concepts and inspiring buildings. Behind every masterpiece lies a complex web of numbers, schedules, and margins. At UAU Collectiv, they know this better than anyone. This architectural firm, with projects ranging from Hasselt to Hong Kong, decided it was time to design not only buildings, but also their business operations with architectural precision.
And they didn’t do it with a pencil—but with Power BI.
From pencil to Power BI (and why that’s no coincidence)
UAU Collectiv (pronounced: WOW Collectiv) is anything but an average firm. With more than 50 creatives spread across Hasselt, Brussels, Eindhoven, Lithuania, and Ukraine, they work on projects ranging from prisons and administrative centers to hotels and large-scale leisure developments such as the Corda Arena.
But large projects come with large challenges. How do you keep control over dozens of projects across multiple countries, each with its own deadlines, budgets, and margins?
Robbert Errico, partner at UAU Collectiv, explains:
“Every project is different. No fee structure, no schedule is ever the same. We wanted to know: where do we win? Where do we lose? And how do we remain creative and competitive?”
From spreadsheets (MEH) to real-time insights (YES!)
Before working with elem3nts, UAU Collectiv relied heavily on Excel. Data from Teamleader already provided more structure, but reports were static, often outdated, and certain clear overview views were missing.
Their wishlist?
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✅ Real-time insight into margins per project
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✅ Clear cost calculations per architect
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✅ A full overview from prospect to delivery
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✅ Smarter pricing and capacity planning
Enter: the dashboard that is architecturally sound
Together with elem3nts, UAU Collectiv built a Power BI dashboard that would not look out of place next to their finest designs.
API integration with Teamleader? Check. ✅
At-a-glance insight into which projects are profitable? Double check. ✅✅
The dashboards show, among other things:
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Profitability per project and per architect
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Costs versus revenues based on hours and invoicing
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Progress analyses for improved planning
Or, as Robbert puts it:
“We started small, but every time we asked: can this be done as well? And that’s how the system grew step by step along with our reality.”
Not just numbers, but strategic decisions
What once was a search for hours and costs has now become a dashboard full of insights that determine financial direction:
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Which projects are most profitable?
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Where are we losing hours?
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How can we quote more intelligently?
Since 2019, UAU Collectiv has been working with real-time data—and the impact is clear:
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✅ Immediate steering information
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✅ Better financial control
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✅ More room to focus on what they do best: designing
The next WOW
And they’re not done yet. UAU Collectiv plans to roll out the dashboards more broadly, allowing architects themselves to see their own project profitability. AI-driven quotations, based on historical data, are also on the horizon.
In this way, UAU Collectiv and elem3nts are not only building bridges between creativity and data, but laying a foundation that is just as sustainable as the buildings they design.
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