Architects Sridevi Changali and Rosie Paul go to great lengths to ensure a project is sustainable, often even pushing the envelope on the material of choice. Citing one example, Sridevi says it was a project on the outskirts of Bengaluru where the client’s brief was simple: “I don’t want cement to enter the site, not even in the stabilisation.” 

She adds, “There was also the added challenge of termites, since it was a farm area. When using mud in a project, you need a lot of binders and fibres, but none of the usual ones would hold against termites. And so, interestingly, we decided to use dog hair instead of natural fibre.” 

Today, the client in question, Sindhoor Pangal, isn’t just elated that she’s living in a sustainable home, but also that it has been architectured with nostalgia — literally. 

The friendship behind the firm 

The ethos of ‘Masons Ink’, the Bengaluru-based sustainable architecture firm helmed by Sridevi and Rosie, lies in ensuring sustainability gets a voice through different projects. 

Elaborating on how they bonded over their shared interest in sustainability in architecture, Sridevi says, “Our story goes all the way back to our undergraduate days in college. We were inclined towards heritage conservation and sustainable architecture.”

During their postgraduate years, the duo found their calling in the Auroville Earth Institute, which trains individuals to build homes using earthen techniques. “So, everything that we base our practice on is what we have been exposed to, not only as a profession but also as a lifestyle that we led in those formative years while being trained at the institute in mud construction and living in Auroville,” she explains, saying that starting a practice together was a “no-brainer”. 

Rosie, too, who eventually took on the role........

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