Fed up with the traditional way of procuring architecture, Qutaibah Al-Atafi joined forces with builder Ryan Underwood to create something different. And with Underwood, their Melbourne-based design-led design and build firm, that’s exactly what they’re doing.

Immigrating from Iraq and growing up in the outer suburbs of New Zealand, Qutaibah was left questioning why some places felt like home and others didn’t.

In this conversation, amongst other things, we discuss whether architecture is still worth it. With tight fees getting tighter, and AI rewriting the rules, what’s keeping architects going?