Business Insider Africa has profiled MOD-ii, the Lagos-based commercial interior design firm, and the two founders behind it: Romi Edevbe, a business strategist, and Abdul Garuba, a COREN-registered civil engineer. The feature looks at why they treat design as a business decision rather than a finishing touch.
Why commercial interior design matters in Lagos right now
Lagos’s office market is under pressure from two sides. Demand for prime space remains strong, with Knight Frank recording prime occupancy in Ikoyi rising from 84% to 91% between the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025. At the same time, Grade A office supply is expanding quickly, which gives tenants more choice and makes them more selective. Fit-out costs are also high. Turner & Townsend ranks Lagos as Africa’s most expensive office fit-out market, at about N3.77 million per square metre for high-specification workspace.
Strategy and engineering in one process
MOD-ii’s model pairs two perspectives. Edevbe leads on concept, context and commercial strategy. Garuba, who has more than a decade of experience in Nigeria’s built environment, brings engineering discipline and project delivery. Before any drawings are produced, the founders work through how a client’s organisation functions, who will use the space and what the business wants to achieve, so that costly decisions are made before construction starts rather than midway through a build.
Aviation interiors: a growing niche
The feature highlights two aviation projects: the office for Falcon Aerospace Limited, parent company of VivaJets, built around an Operations Control Centre on a short-term tenancy, and a crew recovery suite for FlyBird Aviation, converted from a three-bedroom Lagos apartment. Together they show MOD-ii’s growing expertise in a segment few Nigerian interior design firms serve.
Designing for how Africans live and work
MOD-ii argues that Nigerian commercial spaces should respond to local behaviour and climate rather than copy layouts built for other markets. That means accounting for Lagos’s heat and humidity when specifying materials, and designing for local working culture, hierarchy and hospitality.
Plan your commercial space with MOD-ii
Planning an office, hospitality or institutional fit-out in Nigeria?
Speak to the MOD-ii team at support@mod-ii.com or +234 704 558 6574, or visit www.mod-ii.com.
