about | banduksmithstudio

about

BandukSmith Studio is an award winning urban/ architecture/ design/ research/ practice founded in 2011 by Sachin Bandukwala and Melissa Smith, based in Ahmedabad, India.

We ask questions of the way we make our built environments, and how this can impact the realities of practice. We aim to prioritize our varied contexts: of climate, of craft, of local skill set and knowledge, to produce space that is locally accessible, achievable here, and beautifully made.

We believe that architecture in the 21st century is for repair: repair of the environment, the city, the aging structure. An architecture centered on repair acknowledges the intervention as a moment in a longer process, one of many forces that intersect to produce space. It draws on varied knowledge types, not privileging one as superior, and positions the architect as mediator among many.

We take on projects at any scale, and the practice shifts from furniture and interior, to architecture and the design public space. We believe that exploring the intricacies of the detail and strategizing the impact of design in urbanism are two modes of working that operate in tandem, and by engaging each project through both these lenses, we are able to interrogate the relationship between person and city.

Given the diversity of contexts present in South Asian practice, an attitude of repair serves as a critical means to both to address the fraught conditions that produce the design brief, and to locate ourselves within the ongoing timeline of the place. We are part of an open process where design and construction happens in the places where we live, as we live, rather than before or after.

people

melissa smith partner, principal architect m.arch, m.c.p, university of california, berkeley

sachin bandukwala partner, principal architect b.arch, cept university, ahmedabad

somesh nadkarni project architect

unnati gandhi junior architect

paritosh sharma junior architect

radhika choksi junior architect

nishit patel project engineer

contact

address mithakhali gam, ahmedabad, gujarat, INDIA
phone + 91 90819 03087
general email [email protected]
job email [email protected]

current openings:

JUNE 2025
Architectural Interns
We have positions for architectural interns open for the winter term, starting November 2024. Candidates should have a strong interest in design detailing and construction, impeccable organisational habits, and a drive to learn quickly.

If you are interested in joining our team, please write only to [email protected] (no phone calls please) with your resume or cv, concise portfolio of academic and professional work, and a cover letter with reasons for why you would like to join us. file size should not exceed 5MB. emails to the general address will not be considered.

press

“BandukSmith Studio" 2025 | Ahmedabad Commons.

“Arthshila Architecture and Design Library, House in a Mango Orchard" 2025 | The Plan Magazine.

“Arthshila Architecture and Design Library, Abode" 2024 | Ahmedabad Commons.

“Arthshila Architecture and Design Library, Swadhyay Reading Room" 2024 | Architectures of Transition : Emergent Practices in South Asia.

“Arthshila Architecture and Design Library" 2024 | Insite Magazine.

“The 100 Most Influential Names in Architecture and Design" 2023 | Architectural Digest India.

“Exhibitor at Ahmedabad Collective, 2023” IIA Ahmedabad.

“Swadhyay Reading Room, Shoonya House, Chidambarum Incremental House - Building of the Year 2023 Nominee” Archdaily.

“Cover Feature, 2022” Architect and Interiors India.

“India’s HOT 100 List of Architects and Designers 2022” Architect and Interiors India

“Urban House: Shoonya House” Dezeen Long List.