u/Academic_Choice_4514

For Diaspora building back home from abroad: how do you handle preliminary architect plans?

Genuine question for the diaspora here.

I've been talking to a lot of people from Ghana, Nigeria (and other West Africans) in Europe and the US who want to build a family home or a rental property back in their home land mostly Accra, Abidjan, Cape Town.

The pattern I keep hearing: They don’t trust people or they find an architect (often through family), pay 30% upfront, wait 6 weeks for first plans... and then realize they don't match what they had in mind. Then comes the painful change request loop.

I'm curious how you've handled this:

  1. Did you ever try to send sketches or descriptions to your architect before paying?

  2. Did anyone use any kind of online tool (3D, AI, whatever) to lock down the vision first?

  3. Or did you just trust the architect blind?

I'm asking because something called nokah.ai solve this exact problem (AI that generates 3D plans from text. It supports African architecture style, R+3 to R+6 buildings, etc.). Free to try, but I'm more interested in understanding how the diaspora actually solves this problem to improve today than in pitching.

reddit.com
u/Academic_Choice_4514 — 12 days ago

generates a 3D plan + construction budget from a text prompt in ~30 seconds. Output is a BIM/IFC file you can hand to your architect or builder.

Use cases I'm seeing:
→ Test 5-10 layout variants in an hour, not weeks
→ Get realistic budget ranges before committing capital
→ Walk into your architect's office with a strong brief,
saving months of cycles

Honest question: would this be useful for your build, or
is it solving a problem you don't have?

Brice

u/Academic_Choice_4514 — 15 days ago
▲ 6 r/Ethiopia+1 crossposts

Hey guys

For African diaspora / investors trying to build houses or rental project paying $4,000-8,000 to architects for preliminary plans that don't reflect our architectural identity (no courtyards, no compounds, just "European villas" copy-pasted).

What nokah does in 30 seconds, from a text prompt:

→ 3D plan with architectural African styles (Swahili, compound, roundavel, riad, lodge, modern)
→ Auto-calculated budget per room and per construction post (adjusted to local material prices)
→ Exportable 3D plans for your local architect to
continue from there
→ R+3 to R+6 buildings supported for rental investors

It doesn't replace your architect. It gives you a strong
brief to bring them, so you save 2-3 months of cycle.

DM me for a 30-day Pro access if you're seriously preparing a project. I'm distributing codes to early testers this week.

Feedback welcome especially country-specific. Where you building from / building to?

Brice

u/Academic_Choice_4514 — 17 days ago
▲ 50 r/Cameroon+3 crossposts

🇫🇷

Bonjour la communauté,

Je suis Brice, fondateur de nokah.ai. J'ai construit cet outil parce que j'en ai eu marre de voir la diaspora payer 4000-8000€ chez un architecte juste pour des plans préliminaires qui souvent ne reflètent pas notre culture (pas de cour, pas d'organisation en concession, juste des "villas européennes").

nokah génère ton plan 3D en 30 secondes, avec différents styles d’architecture Africaines inclus :
- Concession sénégalaise (cour, mur, maisons d'invités)
- Villa moderne adaptée au climat côtier (Dakar, Saint-Louis)
- Immeuble locatif R+3 à R+6
- Et plus

Tu décris ton projet en français ou anglais → l'IA produit le plan + le budget calculé + un fichier exportable pour ton architecte local.

3 plans gratuits, sans CB. Tes retours seraient précieux,
surtout sur les particularités du marché sénégalais (climat, matériaux locaux, normes).

nokah.ai

Si tu prépares un projet, je peux donner un accès Pro 30 jours gratuit pour tester sérieusement. Écris-moi en commentaire ou en DM.

🇬🇧

Hello community,

I'm Brice, founder of nokah.ai. I built this because I got tired of watching the diaspora pay €4000-8000 to architects just for preliminary plans that often don't reflect our culture.

nokah generates your 3D plan in 30 seconds, with vernacular Senegalese styles built-in.

3 free plans, no credit card: nokah.ai

DM me if you want a 30-day Pro access to test it seriously.

Blessings 🙏
Brice

u/Academic_Choice_4514 — 19 days ago