A small architectural studio working in concrete, stone, and light — across residences, retreats, and cultural spaces in South India and beyond.
years of focused practice — every project drawn, detailed, and supervised by the principal.
commissions delivered across residential, hospitality, and cultural — homes for clients who value stillness over spectacle.
states and two countries — South India is home base, but our drawings travel.
Our process is unhurried by design. The first conversation is about constraints, not concepts. Light, climate, sound, sightlines, neighbours, materials at hand. Only after the site has been read do we draw — and only then do we test ideas against the living, working life of the people who will inhabit it.
How we work“Asra didn’t design what we asked for. She designed what we should have asked for — and we knew it the moment we walked in. The house is quieter than I knew a house could be.”
First conversations are free, no obligation, and held with the principal — never an account manager. Bring the brief, the constraints, or just an instinct.
No.4, Cunningham Road
Bangalore 560052, India
studio@asrakhader.com
+91 80 1234 5678
Asra Khader is an independent architectural practice founded in Bangalore in 2020. We work in concrete, stone, and light — quietly, deliberately, and only on projects we can devote ourselves to.
Our work begins with what to leave out. Each site is a structural puzzle solved through the balance of light, material, and gravity — not the addition of ornament. The buildings hold attention by being still, not loud.
We are sceptical of the new for its own sake. Concrete that ages well; stone laid by people who know it; timber from forests we can name. The drawings are honest about the materials they call for.
Studio founded in Bangalore. First commissions in private residential — small homes for clients willing to wait for the right answer.
First major built work completes in Coimbatore — establishing the studio’s vocabulary of horizontal restraint and quiet courtyard sequences.
A small cultural commission in Goa wins the A+D & Spectrum Award. The studio takes on its first hospitality and cultural commissions.
The Udaipur retreat completes and is shortlisted at the Dezeen Awards. Commissions begin to arrive from outside India.
Practice grows to six people — capped, deliberately. Active commissions across Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Goa, and Sri Lanka.
Every project is led by the principal, drawn end-to-end by the studio, and supervised on site through completion. Nobody inherits a project they didn’t shape from the start.
Founder. M.Arch (CEPT). Twelve years of practice. Leads every commission from first sketch to handover.
Eight years in independent practice. Leads detail design and construction documentation across residential and hospitality projects.
Chartered structural engineer. Brings the engineering of the invisible — long spans, thin slabs, and the calm that comes from knowing the structure works.
A short list. We pursue commissions, not awards — but a few have come our way.
First conversations are free and held with the principal. Bring a brief, a site, or just a question.
Four things we offer. Each commission is led by the principal, drawn end-to-end by the studio, and supervised on site through completion. We don’t take on more than we can give properly.
Private homes, weekend retreats, and family compounds — drawn to fit the rhythm of how a family actually lives, not how a house looks in a photograph. New build and substantial renovations both.
Boutique hotels, wellness retreats, and small resorts — where the building’s job is to disappear into the experience, not announce itself. Often in remote or constrained sites.
Galleries, libraries, and small institutional buildings — where civic patience, daylight, and acoustics matter more than form. We work at modest scale, with clear briefs.
Old buildings given a second life — heritage homes, godowns, and disused civic structures, repaired before they are reimagined. Preference always: keep the structure, change the use.
A typical commission moves through these five stages. The first three rarely take less than four months — and that pace is by design.
We walk the site together. We listen to how the brief was arrived at — what the client tried, what didn’t work, what they fear. No drawings yet.
The first sketches arrive on paper, not screens. Three or four schemes, each made to be killed cheaply. We meet, argue, and choose one direction together.
The scheme grows into drawings, models, and material samples. By the end, the construction set is detailed enough that a contractor can price it without phone calls.
The principal is on site through key milestones. Issues are decided in front of the work, not in email. The drawings are honoured, not interpreted.
We hand over a completed building, an as-built drawing set, and a maintenance brief. The first year of seasonal change, we visit twice. Settling is a real thing.
Fair-faced concrete in tropical climates. Local stone laid by local masons. Timber from sources we can name. Lime plaster where the wall wants to breathe. We will not specify a finish we have not seen at five years and twenty.
When a client wants something the studio doesn’t believe in, we say so before signing. It saves everyone time.
Tell us about the project — first conversations are free and held with the principal.
