Mrs Olajumoke Adenowo: Icon Of Architecture

Mrs. Olajumoke Adenowo is a woman of solid achievements. She is a highly cerebral professional who has accomplished a lot in the field of architecture. A multiple award winner, she is the Founder and Principal Partner of AD Consulting, a boutique architectural firm,and the pioneer of interior architecture in Nigeria.

Adenowo’s firm holds the ace in architectural aesthetics and the provision of state of the art interior designs and civil construction models. AD Consulting has won several distinguished awards for its services and is the only indigenous architectural firm certified and recommended by the British Chamber of Commerce for architectural services in Nigeria. As of the last count, it has executed several top notch projects and rendered sundry professional services to many multinational companies, Federal Government ministries and agencies, state governments as well as corporate and private individuals.

Mrs. Adenowo stands out as a professional with a deep understanding of branding and she deploys the technique of using the design of the built space as a brand enhancer. Through her firm, she has designed and overseen the construction of over 70 outstanding projects within and outside of the shores of Nigeria. Among her top clients are Coca Cola International, L’Oreal, CRI, NGC and Guaranty Trust Bank. She pioneered the concept of e–branch structures for banks in Nigeria including GTBank, FINBank and First Inland Bank.

Mrs. Adenowo’s firm, AD Consulting handled the contract of residential development for the Chief Judge of the Federation in Asokoro, Abuja, Judges of the Supreme Court, Abuja and the Judges of the Federal Court of Appeal, Abuja. It also designed the National Youth Centre, Ogun State as well as structures of COWLSO Community Recreational Centres at Oworonsoki and Agege in Lagos State. It developed the prototype for the construction of the Ekiti Liaison Office as well as NUB International Bank branches in Kaduna, Zaria, Kano and Katsina. It designed the May and Baker Headquarters building in Lagos, the Rainoil Head Office in Lagos, Addax Oil Corporate Headquarters in Abuja and the L’Oreal Central West Africa Corporate Office.

Outside strict professional practice, this great woman of Nigeria has also done a lot for society. In 1999, she established an outfit namely Awesome Treasures Foundation with the objective of grooming and raising what she calls “Transformational Leaders”, and as of today over 50,000 people have benefited in one way or the other through its several seminars and summits. She is a much sought after resource person, who has rendered professional inputs to several organisations, including the African Business Club of Havard Business School, the   Inspiring Woman Project organised by Businessday as well as churches and media companies. Mrs. Adenowo runs a syndicated radio programme tagged “Voice of Change on Leadership”. She has authored many professional and inspirational books including Lifespring: the Mothers’ Prayer Manual and Designed for Marriage. She writes a popular column on interior design for Thisday Newspaper. She is also an acclaimed lyricist.

She holds board membership of several top rate organizations including the British School of Lome, Foundation Holdings Limited, the National Think Tank, the Ekiti State Economic Council, Indian Ayuba Foundation, Petrafirma Limited, Advantage Energy Limited and Leadway Tours and Travels Limited. She belongs to several professional bodies including the Nigerian Institute of Architects, the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, the European Coaching Institute, the International Coaching Federation and the International Coaching Association.

Adenowo bagged the B.Sc in Architecture from the University of Ife at a record age of 19 and subsequently posted a record breaking Master of Science (M.Sc) in Architecture with distinction. Her result was first of its kind in the several decades of the history of the institution. In her days at Ife, she won several faculty awards for her academic performance including those of Best Student in Design in the B.Sc and M.Sc Programs. She also won the award of Best Student in Housing Studies. It was because of her sterling performance in academics that she was included in the Who Will be Who in the 21st Century, a publication of the International Biographical Centre Cambridge, England in 1991. She is an alumnus of a good number of professional institutions including the Lagos Business School, and the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra, Barcelona, Spain.

Having qualified as a Chartered Architect, she worked in the firm of Femi Majekodunmi Associates be fore she established her own practice namely AD Consulting in 1994. According to her, she started the outfit with the sum of 400USD and from a small cubicle in Central Lagos. However, all that is history now as the company has grown in leaps and bounds with a network of branches across the country and with a solid client base.

Indeed, and as indicated earlier, Mrs. Olajumoke Adenowo has had a long standing romance with accolades, honours and awards. As a student at FGGC Oyo, she won several awards including: Award for Excellence in Geography (1983), Award for Excellence in Physics (1982), Award for Excellence in English Language (1982), Award for Excellence in Literature–in –English (1982) and the Award for Overall Excellence (1980). At the University of Ife, she won the Kunle Ade Wahab Prize for the Best Student in Housing (1991), the CAPL/Dulux Prize (1991), Chief Balogun Prize for the Best Student in the B.Sc Programme (1988), 2nd position in the Ife Architecture Students’ Association Competition (1987) and the Brian Djemah Memorial Award (1986).

Her other awards include the IDEA Award (2014), Ekiti State Merit Award (2014), African Property Award (in the three categories of Best Public Service Architecture, Best Office Architecture and Best Mixed – Use Architecture (2013), International Property Awards (2012), Ambassador of Excellence Award by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife (2012), the Rare Gems Award (2007) and the Murtala Muhammed Foundation Award (2003).

Olajumoke is married to Mr. Olukorede Adenowo and they are blessed with sons.

It was in recognition of her contribution to national development in the area of Women Empowerment & Development  that Mrs. Olajumoke Adenowo was honoured with the PSR Woman of Merit Gold Award in 2015.