Building in public
Building Coordra: A project control portal for architecture & interior design firms
A lightweight pilot product that helps small firms track project documents, employee logs, client comments, approvals, and revisions — without replacing the storage they already use.
The problem
Project information is scattered.
Small architecture and interior design firms often manage files, comments, approvals, and revisions across WhatsApp, email, office servers, Google Drive, Dropbox, and spreadsheets.
This makes it difficult for the principal architect to know what changed, what needs review, and what the client actually approved. Important context gets buried in threads, and the same question gets asked more than once.
Product idea
A project-control layer, not a storage replacement.
Coordra is an action register. It does not replace storage. Files stay where they are — on an office server, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Box.
The portal tracks document records, employee work logs, client comments, approvals, revision requests, and activity history so the firm has one place to follow the project workflow.
Target users
Three roles, each with a clear view.
Firm owner / principal architect
Sees all projects, documents ready for review, employee logs, client comments, and pending approvals.
Employees / designers
See assigned projects, add work logs, and submit document records for owner review.
Clients
See only client-visible documents, comment, approve, or request revision — nothing else.
MVP features
What the prototype includes today.
Workflow example
How a document moves through the firm.
- 01Employee adds a document record and marks it for owner review.
- 02Owner reviews the document and decides whether to share it with the client.
- 03Owner shares the selected item with the client using a client-visible link.
- 04Client opens the document, then comments, approves, or requests a revision.
- 05Activity history updates so everyone can see what happened and when.
Design decision
Why the MVP does not store files directly.
The app is designed to be lightweight and affordable for small firms. By storing only document records, internal paths, and external links, Coordra avoids the cost and complexity of hosting large files.
Firms can continue using their own office server, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Box. The portal adds the workflow layer on top.
What I am validating
Open questions for early pilot firms.
- Do architects and firm owners want a dashboard like this, or is email + Drive enough?
- Will employees update work logs consistently if it is simple enough?
- Will clients actually use an approval view instead of replying by email?
- Is a setup/service pricing model more realistic for early firms than a self-service SaaS subscription?
Current status
An early prototype, not a finished product.
Coordra is a working pilot. The core workflow is functional and the demo data tells a realistic architecture-firm story, but it is not a fully launched enterprise product.
I am looking for a small number of design firms to try it on a real project and tell me what is missing, what is confusing, and what would actually save them time.
Get in touch
Request a demo or give feedback.
If you run or work at an architecture or interior design firm, I would love to hear whether this matches how you work today.