Design in Detail: Sustainable Materiality & Craft
We believe architecture begins with the honesty of materials. From local stone to site-harvested earth, every texture is chosen to root our buildings in their environment and tell a quiet, grounded story.
A detail from 'The Earth' project showing the combination of CSEB brick stairs, dry-clad granite walls, and glass blocks. This composition highlights our approach of using a varied but harmonious palette of sustainable materials.
The interior of the Teyla project, where raw micro-concrete walls and stone floors create a cool, cave-like passage. Sunlight filters in, highlighting the textures and creating a path that leads the eye towards the green pond outside.
The interior of the Teyla project, where raw micro-concrete walls and stone floors create a cool, cave-like passage. Sunlight filters in, highlighting the textures and creating a path that leads the eye towards the green pond outside.
A close-up of the material palette on a residential terrace. The combination of smooth concrete, warm wood blocks, and textured gravel creates a rich sensory experience underfoot, turning a simple balcony into a designed landscape.
About Design in Detail: Materiality & Craft
When we build with materials like CSEB blocks or site-salvaged stone, we are doing more than choosing an aesthetic. We are reducing structural load and lowering cooling energy costs while ensuring the building ages gracefully. If you are planning a space, consider how your choice of flooring or wall texture can naturally regulate the indoor temperature throughout the year.
We view raw elements not as mere building blocks, but as expressions of the site itself. In our Teyla project, using mud plaster from the ground beneath us was a decision born from both necessity and aesthetics. It made the structure economically viable while keeping it comfortable in the humid tea estates.
Our 'The Earth' project highlights our dry-cladding technique with granite. By avoiding mortar, we allow the stone to breathe and create shadow lines that shift with the sun. This is our interpretation of modernizing vernacular craft, ensuring that structures do not just sit on the land but belong to it.
Practicality is the silent partner to our design philosophy. Whether it is oxide flooring or ferrocement roofs, we design with long-term maintenance in mind. These materials do not require constant painting or polishing. Instead, they gain character and depth as they weather over time. When you visit our studio in Indiranagar, we can walk you through samples of these textures so you can see how they feel underfoot or against the palm before making a commitment to your project.
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