7.20 m

Abode
Artisan

An architecture practice in Ahmedabad. We draw buildings made of what is nearby, by people who live near it.

StageSite

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Every material on our drawings comes from within two hundred kilometres.

That constraint is not romance. It is the reason a wall can be repaired in 2060 by someone who lives on the same road, using the same brick, without a drawing from us.

We work in load-bearing masonry, timber and exposed concrete frames, and we detail them to be understood by the people building them. Nine of our last twelve buildings were put up by contractors from the same district as the site.

A-110Site plan · Kiln House · 1:200 000

Six materials, and the distance each one travelled.

Kiln House is the shortest supply chain we have managed. Nothing on the drawing came from further away than Morbi, and the sand came from the riverbed you can see from the terrace.

N50 km100 km200 kmKiln HouseMangalore tileMorbi · 184 kmStone and steelGandhidham depot · 78 kmLimeHodka · 62 kmFired brickKiln on the Mandvi road · 12 kmRiver sandRukmavati bed · 8 kmReclaimed teakBhachau · 96 km

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A-120Wall section at the window head · 1:20

A wall is seven decisions thick.

This is the drawing a mason actually builds from. Every layer is named, sized and sourced, because a detail that has to be explained on site has already failed.

450 mm1Fired brick, 230 mmLocal kiln, laid in lime mortar2Cavity, 50 mmDrained and vented at every course3Concrete block, 150 mmLoad-bearing inner leaf4Lime plaster, 20 mmThree coats, floated5Precast lintel, 230 × 250Bears 200 mm each side6Teak head, 60 × 120Reclaimed, oiled not sealed7Glazing, 6–12–6Argon filled, low-e inner pane

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Selected work

All six projects
A-130Schedule of stages

How a building gets from a plot to a set of keys.

A

Survey and brief

Measured drawings of the plot, a light and wind study, and the brief written down in your words, not ours.

3–4 weeks10%
B

Concept

Plans and sections at 1:100, one physical model at 1:50, and a materials board you can pick up.

6–8 weeks20%
C

Drawing set

Details at 1:20 and 1:5, the specification, the schedules, and one wall built full size on site before anything is ordered.

10–14 weeks35%
D

Tender

Priced bills from three contractors, interviews with each, and our recommendation in writing.

4 weeks10%
E

Site

Weekly visits, changes redlined and re-issued the same day, and the as-built set at handover.

As long as the build25%

Fees run between eight and twelve per cent of construction cost. Under forty lakh we work to a fixed fee, agreed in writing before the first drawing is made.

On the boards

Updated weekly

  • A-203

    Stepwell Library

    Brass screen at 1:5. The first mock-up came back too bright, so we are darkening the patina and hanging it again.

    Week of 31 August 2026

  • A-207

    Well house, Mandvi

    Second concept. Twenty-two square metres, one door, and a roof that collects more water than the house needs.

    On the boards since 24 August 2026

  • A-206

    Salt Pavilion

    Five-year inspection. The floor has cracked once, along the line we scored for it. Everything else is as built.

    Visited 19 August 2026