Issue 3 was about global shifts—how workspaces are being redesigned to deserve attendance. But architecture refuses to stay global for long. Buildings are local whether your reference images are or not. In Ahmedabad, climate, dust, shade, approvals, and execution realities are not background. They are the brief.

Ahmedabad teaches architecture whether you ask it to or not.

It teaches it in the pols, where shade is not an accessory but a survival tactic, and proportion can change temperature. It teaches it in institutional work, where rigor is not aesthetic but ethic. And it teaches it on the fast-growing edges, where development moves quickly and buildings are often asked to look “premium” before they’re asked to work well.

So when someone searches “architecture firm in Ahmedabad,” I think they are looking for something deeper than reputation. They are looking for a translator—someone who can turn local conditions into a building that feels inevitable here, not imported.

Does the firm treat Ahmedabad’s climate as a design brief?

In Ahmedabad, heat is not seasonal; it is structural. The sun is not a lighting condition; it is a force.

A serious firm speaks fluently about west glare, shading depth, thermal comfort, and the honest role of air-conditioning. It doesn’t pretend you can solve May with poetry. It solves May with geometry.

Materials matter here in a specific way. The question isn’t “Is it beautiful?” It’s “Will it still be calm after dust, heat, and monsoon have had their say?”

Can the firm design for old-city density and new-city openness?

Ahmedabad isn’t one urban condition. A tight plot behaves differently from a bungalow precinct, and both behave differently from commercial corridors where signage, parking, and service access can ruin architecture if handled late.

Local intelligence isn’t name-dropping neighbourhoods. It’s reading how a site behaves: earning privacy in dense settings, resisting over-glazing in open layouts, designing operations early in commercial work so the building doesn’t become a compromise.

Can you verify built work—not just narratives?

Lists of “top architects” are easy to publish. They aren’t proof.

Ask for completed work you can visit. Ask for drawings that show coordination discipline. Ask what changed during construction and why. The ability to speak about compromise without defensiveness is often the sign of real practice.

Does the firm have a method—and can they explain it plainly?

Many clients hire for “look” and end up with spaces that photograph well and live poorly.

Instead, ask about method: How do you translate lifestyle or operations into planning? How do you coordinate structure and MEP so services don’t vandalise design? How do you handle approvals and timelines realistically? What does site involvement look like in practice—not as a promise?

If process cannot be explained, it cannot be trusted.

Does the firm understand local execution realities?

Ahmedabad can deliver excellent craft when specified and supervised well. It can also deliver improvisation where details were left vague.

Ask what they insist on drawing: parapets, thresholds, drains, waterproofing junctions, service routes, window details. These are where buildings either stay calm—or start failing.

Is regulatory comfort treated as part of design thinking?

You don’t need an architect who speaks only in acronyms. You need one who treats compliance as integrated thinking, not a late interruption—especially for commercial buildings where fire, accessibility, and egress are non-negotiable.

Does their design language belong to the city—and to you?

Style matters, but it isn’t the start.

Listen for proportion, light, restraint, and material logic suited to maintenance realities here. Ahmedabad’s best buildings don’t shout. They endure.

Can you work with them for a year or two without the relationship collapsing?

Architecture is a long relationship. You will make decisions when you’re tired, anxious about cost, irritated by delays.

Notice early: Do they listen without trying to win? Do they explain trade-offs clearly? Do they push back respectfully when something is impractical? Do they stay steady under pressure?

Steadiness is a design skill.

If you started here, go back to Issue 1—because the right appointment is still the beginning of everything. And if you came here from Issue 3, you’ve just moved from global shifts to local conditions, which is exactly how architecture behaves in real life.

— Brijesh Patel

Founder & Principal Architect, Vastu Nirman Architects (VNA)