When geeks talk about anything smart – smart home, smart office, smart city – it tends to ends as gobbledygook. But when you meet the folks at Triangle, the subject matter is crystal clear, as simple as abc. They don’t just explain. They give an experience. And their office is just perfect for exhibition. There, recently, I tasted a futuristic moment. It was a piece of mirror in the toilet. While brushing your teeth, you can transform the mirror to give you a sort of “mirror, mirror on the wall magic.” From the screen, you can make phone calls or watch Youtube or Netflix, you can play music and controls your surrounding. I also experienced the luxury of a home cinema, an immersive three-D reality and stereo surround sound you could ever get inside the home.
The blind, light, music and everything else inside the building are controlled either from a small screen panel on the wall or a smartphone. It was an experience right out of a sci-fi movie, only that it was for real. This surreal experience of a smart home is the surprise awaiting anyone who steps into the Lekki office of Triangle, a technology company run by the troika of Kehinde Awoyinfa, Olayinka Odejaye and Kingsley Duru.
Duru, Triangle’s head of Technology Engineering, studied Electronic and Computer Engineering at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. He has a full bag of relevant certifications! – NSE, COREN, AVIXA (Audio Visual and Integrated Experience Association) Certified Technology Specialist, Crestron, Lutron and Savant. Odejaye who has BSc in System Engineering from the University of Lagos is in charge of Operations and Strategy while Kehinde Awoyinfa, an alumni of Covenant University has Bachelor in Computer Engineering and MBA from Grenoble École de Management, France, and he directs the company’s Business Development.
In this Encounter, they gave insights to the work they are doing, where their company is heading:
In few words, give us an insight into Triangle
We are a technology company on a mission to change how people live and work. We do smart homes, that is, we automate people’s home. We make it smart such that from your phone, for instance, you can control everything in the house – light, blind, music, what have you. We also do smart offices: automated work environment, boardroom, video conference system and so on.
The company was one year old in September, and in one year, we have done iconic projects, such as the Mike Adenuga Centre at Alliance Francaise, Lagos, which is our flagship project (it comprises an auditorium, a cinema, and a class for learning French). Triangle handled everything, décor, fittings, technology. We have handled a number of residential projects and that includes one of the tallest residential buildings in Nigeria located at No 4 Bourdillion, where everything is automated in the flats, the luxury homes at Eko Atlantic and the most innovative workspace in Nigeria, Sparkle.
How large is your workforce and scope of operation?
Currently we have 15 permanent staff and 25 contract employees; our head office is in Lekki, but we are working on projects in Port Harcourt, Abuja, and Ghana.
What’s the idea behind this your smart office?
This (building) is like an experience centre for us, a place people can come in and experience this technology and make up their mind to have it. We have a cinema right next door, for people who want to have private cinema in their house. This is the Triangle Place.
How did the three of you meet?
We started as colleagues in our previous place of employment which was doing something similar to what we are doing right now. The company pioneered the industry as we know it today. But the company set up boundaries and we think we can actually do more outside those boundaries. So we stepped out.
What training do you have?
We are all globally trained. We invest a lot in going all over the world searching for knowledge. A lot of online training. We are members of many bodies.
So how would you describe a smart home?
It is a home that anticipates your need; a home that responds to you. For example, you wake up in the morning, the house knows you are awake; your light dims to whatever level you want; the blind on window opens, if you want it to; if you are a music person, songs of your choice starts playing. As you go down to your breakfast area, the light comes on and by the time you get to your breakfast area, if you are a TV person, the TV is on and tunes to whatever channel you typically watch in the morning. And of course, your coffee machine produces your coffee if you love coffee. By the time you leave the house, the building knows you have left and it shuts itself down. When you are back in the evening, the house knows you are back and it will configure itself to your preferences.
How affordable is a smart home to the average man?
It is a niche marketing but the barriers have been broken down. What you would have spent N10 millions to achieve two years ago, this year, you are spending N2 million. In the next few years, we expect that those prices would drop especially now that even more and more people can afford smartphones and smart devices. The market is expanding and more people are becoming capable of affording a smart home.
How is Triangle positioned?
As the best in the market. Our philosophy as a company is “do it right the first time.”
What kind of projects do you handle?
We have done smart rooms, smart office, smart building; we are looking forward to doing a smart city, to deploy a system for an entire city.
The good day so far
Every day that we work here is a good day. But the most memorable day was when we had our first payment. And our day is made each time we complete a project and the client said “well done!” When people send us complimentary messages, those words are reassuring that we are on track.
Why the name Triangle?
After all kinds of suggestions, we settled for a name that depicts what we are doing. Triangle is the strongest, most stable shape: It symbolizes the quality of our work; it is also a metaphor of our friendship and the management of the company.
What next?
In the next five years, we intend to be involved in the biggest projects in West Africa. Anywhere there is an iconic project going on, we want Triangle to be name referenced there.