Sustainability is all about responding to local spaces and respecting local materials: Shweta Balasubramoni

A few months ago, a television channel announced architecture and interiors awards in the two Telugu states. And, amongst the winner was Vistaar Associates, who received the award for 'Resort Design'. Managing Director, Vistaar, Shweta Moni, is from Hyderabad, and she got this award for her interiors at Stone Hedge Resort in Nubra valley, Ladakh. What piques interest is also the fact that this resort has been designed to be completely eco-friendly and energy efficient using locally available resources as much as possible.

Shweta Balasubramoni, originally from Kerala, lived for a while in New Delhi before her family settled in Hyderabad. Even as a young child she was drawn to architecture and as a eleven-year-old when she saw the famous Laurie Baker's chapel in Trivandrum, the pristine structure in brick that brings in the beauty of nature and the sanctity of a place of worship with it, the memory stuck with her. It was then that she decided she wanted to make such buildings one day. The child grew into a young woman, and the dream had not changed. She wanted to study architecture at the best of the institutes, but family wanted her in Hyderabad, and so she finished her graduation in the city from JNAFAU, and then there was no stopping her. She went on to intern with the famous BK Doshi, at the design capital of India, Ahmedabad.

"It was not that we would be asked to design a building the second day of our internship. They get 100s of applications and one has to apply one year in advance. They just select two out the many. When I was selected, I had to do everything an intern gets to do. It can even be fetching coffee, to cleaning the library, but being amidst such talent, and watching them work was a great inspiration. One day, I saw Frank Gehry walk in; now that was a euphoric moment for me," shares Shweta. She is quite happy to have been recognised for her work, especially for a project that is close to her heart – the environment-friendly resort in Himalayas, where the bounty of nature can be explored in all its totality as it is allowed into the building, parts of it thrown open to the surroundings, providing for great views as well.

It was destiny that brought her to this place of recognition in her chosen field. She was still in Ahmedabad, when she decided to get married. "He was my boyfriend, whom I have been seeing forever, and he wanted to end long-distance. I agreed to marry him but refused to be in Hyderabad. He got transferred to Cochin and there it was a chance meeting with this architect couple, who shared my philosophy of building, and worked with Laurie Baker closely, that my destiny was sealed. I worked with them for less than a year and I had to come back to Hyderabad as my mother-in-law was unwell. It was just when I was cribbing for having to go back and not having anywhere to work, this project from . It was logistically impossible to execute construction of this house in Hyderabad from Kerala, so I was persuaded to take it up on my own. I came back to the city and when I began working on the project, I was all by myself and did a fairly good job. This was followed by re-doing our ancestral home in Sainikpuri. My husband gave me an extremely low budget to work upon, and so I began with the functional – like working on the wiring. That's how I learnt about carpenters, electricians and realised I enjoyed this whole process, and, in a way, it took me towards interiors."

"Sustainability is all about responding to local space and respecting the local material," shares Shweta, who was always drawn towards the concept of local in the design. "I feel our local Betamcharla and Tandur stones are as good as any imported stone. Infact, once when we used Tandur, I felt they gave a beautiful antique finish to the flooring. Even when we first visited Nubra valley to build the resort, we realised there was hardly any way we were going to get the material on the single road that took 5 to 7 hours to reach from Leh on a good day. We decided to go for natural vernacular architecture, working with local people, who made stabilised bricks on the location, wood came from Srinagar, furniture was made on the spot and stone came from a quarry hardly 15 km away. Except for things like electrical fitments that came from Delhi, rest everything was locally sourced," relates this architect and interior designer, who works independently and in collaboration with other architects and firms for a wide range of projects; from premium resorts, simple retreats, office spaces to houses.

"My association with firms, like 'Inspiration' helps me work on multiple projects; they are like an extended family, my mentors and friends, it has been one fulfilling journey with 'Inspiration' with whom I worked on the Stone Hedge project. With them I get to choose my work," she relates. She along with her team work on community projects like 'Meri Galli Meri Shaan' by remodeling and beautifying a street, an almost thankless job, because one election and all the artwork is gone. Recently they even worked with a school in Malakpet to beautify a corner that had a wall where people would urinate and there was trash all around. "It took some effort, but we managed to clean it up and paint the wall like a school bus and today it has become a selfie spot. We also spoke to the residents to maintain the place clean."

"We like to do more," says passionate Shweta, for whom the world of design is full of opportunities to apply her vocabulary of sustainability.