Studio Saar picked up Dezeen’s 2024 Emerging Architect of the Year Award at a ceremony held in London, making it the first Indian practice to achieve this international accolade.

The practice, based in Rajasthan, India and Somerset, UK, was acknowledged in the Dezeen Award’s Studios category after steadily building recognition for its work over the course of this year. This has included securing wide-ranging coverage for the newly completed cultural and children’s community centre, Third Space, in Udaipur.

Studio Saar also held a solo exhibition entitled Craft, Community, Connection during the London Festival of Architecture. It also won the 2024 Davidson Prize on the theme ‘Rethinking Home – Adapt and Reuse’ with a proposal to transform a vacant department store in Taunton into homes and a mixed-use community hub. This year, the practice also designed Srivan, a modular pavilion inspired by circular principles for the inaugural edition of the international trade fair Design Mumbai.

The jury selected Studio Saar from among six shortlisted practices, including studios based in London, Tokyo, and Shanghai.

The Dezeen judges said in a statement: “This ambitious young studio puts social and environmental sustainability at the heart of its practice. Guided by these principles, the studio has delivered an impressive and diverse array of projects that belie its age.”

“We are honoured and truly humbled to be the first Indian practice to win Dezeen’s Emerging Architect of the Year Award. We see this as a recognition of the boundary-pushing work being carried out by Indian architects, designers, and craftspeople both in India and abroad. Sitting at the crossroads of the global south and more developed countries, Indian architecture has the potential to offer much to the world by pushing boundaries while embracing its long history and tradition. For Studio Saar, the award is a recognition of our team’s commitment to the power of architecture as an agent of change, whether in India or the UK.” - Ananya Singhal, Managing Partner of Studio Saar

The practice is currently working on a broad portfolio of projects in India and the UK, including a city-wide reforestation scheme in Udaipur, new manufacturing facilities for Secure, the completion of a cow shed dedicated to the conservation programme of India’s indigenous Gir cow, and a community-led regeneration project in Frome, Somerset.

“This has been a truly exceptional year for us – this win is a recognition of our team’s hard work in the past year and a vindication of our community-oriented approach to architecture and sustainability. Studio Saar remains committed to working with our local communities in Rajasthan and Somerset, pushing the boundaries of locally, environmentally and socially sustainable architecture that enriches people’s lives and livelihoods.” - Jonny Buckland, Creative Director of Studio Saar

About Studio Saar

Studio Saar was established by Jonny Buckland and Ananya Singhal in 2019 having collaborated for over a decade. The studio’s architecture is underpinned by the ambition to create sustainable solutions for society, achieved by cross-cultural sharing of emerging ideas, methodologies and technologies.

The practice is split across its two offices in Frome, Somerset and Udaipur, Rajasthan. Its architecture is rooted in understanding the importance of people, culture and place. Whether in Somerset or Rajasthan, the studio’s approach interprets vernacular traditions through a contemporary lens to deliver innovative, relevant, and beautiful design solutions across a range of typologies.

Key schemes include Third Space, a learning and cultural centre in Udaipur, the redevelopment of Udaan Park in Udaipur, Secure Sanand Factory and Canteen in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the Mayday masterplan for Saxonvale Frome, and residences in the UK and India. Studio Saar is a subsidiary business of Secure, an Indian multi-national smart metering and energy management business with operations in India, UK, Bangladesh, Australia, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, and the UAE.

Studio Saar Works in Pics