diff --git a/llama_stack/distribution/build_container.sh b/llama_stack/distribution/build_container.sh
index 139883618..b56c76ebd 100755
--- a/llama_stack/distribution/build_container.sh
+++ b/llama_stack/distribution/build_container.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 LLAMA_MODELS_DIR=${LLAMA_MODELS_DIR:-}
 LLAMA_STACK_DIR=${LLAMA_STACK_DIR:-}
 TEST_PYPI_VERSION=${TEST_PYPI_VERSION:-}
+BUILD_PLATFORM=${BUILD_PLATFORM:-}
 
 if [ "$#" -lt 4 ]; then
   echo "Usage: $0 <build_name> <docker_base> <pip_dependencies> [<special_pip_deps>]" >&2
@@ -77,6 +78,10 @@ if [ -n "$special_pip_deps" ]; then
   done
 fi
 
+# This has been added to simplify UI development, but we likely need
+# to add this as a dependency to `llama-stack` itself
+add_to_docker "RUN pip install llama-stack-client"
+
 stack_mount="/app/llama-stack-source"
 models_mount="/app/llama-models-source"
 
@@ -116,7 +121,6 @@ RUN pip install --no-cache $models_mount
 EOF
 fi
 
-
 add_to_docker <<EOF
 
 # This would be good in production but for debugging flexibility lets not add it right now
@@ -158,7 +162,9 @@ image_tag="$image_name:$version_tag"
 
 # Detect platform architecture
 ARCH=$(uname -m)
-if [ "$ARCH" = "arm64" ] || [ "$ARCH" = "aarch64" ]; then
+if [ -n "$BUILD_PLATFORM" ]; then
+  PLATFORM="--platform $BUILD_PLATFORM"
+elif [ "$ARCH" = "arm64" ] || [ "$ARCH" = "aarch64" ]; then
   PLATFORM="--platform linux/arm64"
 elif [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then
   PLATFORM="--platform linux/amd64"