Edifice Consultants Pvt Ltd

Ravi Sarangan stumbled into architecture accidentally. When he wasn’t able to get into engineering or medicine, a cousin, who was studying architecture, encouraged him to take the entrance exam for it in which he stood 12th. He later joined Sir JJ College of Architecture where he met Sanjay Srinivasan, who would eventually collaborate with him on something big.

Shortly after graduating, they decided to start Edifice Consultants Pvt Ltd in 1989, which over 30 years later, has become one of India’s leading design establishments. Today, the company has offices in eight locations, including Mumbai and Delhi, and has worked on over 1,500 diverse projects—residential, hospitality, health, education and commercial. The award-winning practice fosters the principles of collaborative design and believes in creating structures that enhance its surroundings.

The firm has done prominent projects for Capgemini, Amara Raja Infra Pvt. Ltd, Reliance ADAG and the headquarters for the Ministry of Renewable Energy. High-end luxury spaces like the Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa and Niraamaya Retreats Backwaters & Beyond, Kumarakom, are particularly memorable projects for Sarangan due to the time and attention to detail they required. “They were difficult sites to handle and geographically as well,” says Sarangan.

Moving forward, Sarangan feels measures need to be taken to have a minimal impact on nature. “The building industry is one of the biggest energy guzzlers,” he says. “If you adhere to the fundamentals of architecture, you will ensure that you are on safe ground and not causing too much damage.”

Sarangan recommends using three simple principles: Reduce demand, reuse and repurpose as much as possible. “Learn to live with less… less is more,” he says.

By Darielle Britto