GAURAV MATHUR

A brief journey

Gaurav Mathur graduated from IIT Roorkee in 2003, and he learned a lot during his 19 to 20-year journey. He has held numerous leadership positions in various companies. He has led teams ranging from four to five people to 15 and even 20 people. In terms of design, he has been creatively involved in a variety of large-scale projects such as five-star hotels, hospitals, and residential developments.

This has enabled him as an individual to like have a holistic idea of what should be there in terms of materials, space planning and relevance of certain designs and practicality aspects and the maintenance aspects.  He has been through those kinds of buildings where the operations are very important, like the hotel buildings or the hospital buildings.

The journey has been so far very interesting and very developing.  He has worked as an entrepreneur for about one and a half years. Being the founder of the company, they are currently involved in all types of construction, but they are more focused on projects where the owner and user are the same. He is a lead AP as well as a sustainability specialist. The working method is quite different from typical contemporary architecture, as we incorporate many sustainable aspects in our initial designs, which cannot be done later.

Those who are about to graduate and have four to ten years of experience in our field. They are unable to distinguish between learning and institute. We architects have a penchant for the creative and glamorous. But sustainability is something that has come forward to us as a subject right now because we have gone through some phase of the pandemic and it has really guided us in thinking about things again and again. Having a responsible process of comprehending the requirement. We don’t just take out the pencil and start interacting with the client on the first day. We must first fully understand that requirement before preparing the OPR, which is the owner’s project requirement. Then we understand the business nuances, such as why they want to build the building or the entire master plan.

And once we’ve absorbed that information and comprehended their goals and objectives, we’ll begin sketching. We have the steps to prepare an OPR, and it eventually aids in rolling out certain possibilities of us retreating on that again, that there was something else which we missed, and the design does not convey that. We have seen in various companies that many people jump right to the design, which should not be the case. We’ve begun defining those terms in our system. Beyond the requirements, we have a specific design process, specific ways of defining space planning, and the space programme must be present. And there is certain step-by-step design that must occur, and this is the entire process.

Basically, the challenges have always been a communication breakdown due to the lack of processes and algorithmic ways of defining a specific process. A questionnaire or some kind of interactive session or integrative process where things should fall into place one by one should be developed. We’ve seen processes fail because not all stakeholders were present at the start. Perhaps the IT consultant, landscaping consultant, or interior designer was not present at the start. Whether it is the architect, project manager, PMC, or whatever, an integrated process in the beginning, things start to fail in the later stages because a lot of design considerations of a landscaping consultant, an interior designer, or a structural consultant must happen right from the start. If the integrated process is not present, we repeat these steps and change the design.

Our initiatives have been to have a very systematic design process and to be a good listener to the client, as well as to guide them on what might go wrong or what might be overlooked, or rather something that could turn out to be very good should not be overlooked. It’s not just bad things that could happen; there could be even better things. We should also be prepared for the future. We defined processes and may have become bogged down with the client. We try to take notes because it’s a very simple and interesting thing to do. We don’t just grab the pencil, AutoCAD. We will comprehend, debate, and comprehend the client’s objectives before implementing them. Second, we have a foundation of sustainable and healthy architecture. Because creating healthy spaces is becoming increasingly important around the world. And that is how we should approach every project in our opinion.

Of course, effective planning is something that must be done without a doubt. However, it is sometimes overlooked that we do not initially discuss the aesthetic goals. What do you want the building to look like in terms of aesthetics? What would you like to see? Finally, if your aesthetic goals are not defined because we as a company, if we say our ideas about architecture and we may differ from the architectural legacy. In our view of architecture, even aesthetics serves a purpose. When you enter a building, its purpose is to please and make you feel good, to guide you, and to make you comfortable. We don’t always talk about aesthetics, but rather about functionality, other sustainability aspects or other aspects, mathematics and budget, and other things, but everything has to blend together in the end. When a building lacks that character or aesthetics, the model of real architecture fails to emerge.

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from clients about the types of designs we create and the planning we do. We believe it is also manifesting itself in terms of practical experiences.

Having trends is something that is becoming increasingly common on the internet. Everything is available on the internet, whether it is building elevation design or other elevation. There are numerous images available, but it is necessary to distinguish between what is happening in the market and what the trend should be. We have seen in many places, and in our work as well, that our team comes up with many good images, but many of these things are not build able. We look at very good eminent architects from all over the world, and those things are being built, not those that are only on paper. So, we follow up with them, learn from them, and try to put it into practice. We don’t copy anything off the internet; instead, we try to be inspired by it. And we only look at works of good architecture by some very good architects from around the world.

First and foremost, be a good listener, apply your knowledge everywhere, understand the big picture, and avoid jumping to conclusions. There are many juniors, many new architects who are coming out, and they miss out on that and experience this thing out of the heartbeat. Gaurav’s message to the aspiring industry is to be relevant to the client’s needs, to engineer the entire building, and to consider sustainability.

After speaking with many senior people in the site industry, whether it is for healthcare projects, hotel projects, or residential projects. One thing that every senior has repeatedly stated is that the building’s maintainability is critical. Gaurav always tries to persuade vendors or experts who are conducting product development research to spend more time interacting with us or other professionals.

Also, do some things that require no maintenance. Since we’re talking about sustainability, we should also talk about responsible material sourcing because you’ve mentioned these things on a larger scale where large scale projects have their own CSR goals. They should understand that responsible sourcing of wood, marble, or anything else should not result in deforestation or material scarcity.

Nowadays, there is a lot of competition in the market, and turnkey contractors do have a lot of execution knowledge and know what they’re supposed to be done. What is the real thing that needs to come out when it comes to conveying the design correctly? However, as a result of competitions, many timelines are being overcommitted. For example, if someone else completes the project in three months, I will complete it in two months. Then, instead of the party’s three-year project, I’ll do it in two or one year. We need to direct the plan as to what the difference is in terms of timelines. Second, bringing about the proper way of implementing the design, which is the true success of the project.

The process of completing the projects has the potential to transform the industry. We must be very relevant to the current times, and responsible architecture and project management must be implemented because the steps are sometimes overlooked, and this is what our industry must focus on. A lot of good materials and fast construction are becoming available, and everyone should learn how to use them. We have done some precast projects as well, and some new technologies are still available, but if the client is unaware of what is required in a precast project, they will be unable to complete it. Many of our professionals, particularly in India, were pre-cast. However, there were many other materials that were available back then that are no longer available, such as cements or other boards that held everything together. We now have a good market for all of these types of buildings, such as precast or PB, as well as various other technologies, but proper learning is lacking. We see a lot of people going around the market claiming that they’ll do this and that in order to save time. However, clients are sometimes unaware that drawing work will take time but will be completed quickly. Work should be valued, and the industry should change to reflect this, as well as incorporate many new technologies. We see China doing a lot of things in 10 days, two days, five days, buildings are being built because they have a system and there is a level of acceptance in the system with respect to the clients also, the parties were funding. They understand how much funding is required. They must comprehend their levels of satisfaction in comparison to previous times.

Gaurav associates the defining moment with education because it teaches you to be humbler, grounded, strong, and relevant. Architecture was one of his majors when he graduated. However, when he took the lead AP exam and wanted to include sustainability as a new component in his own profile. That moment when he could accomplish something in that area. And whatever he has done since then has been a defining moment in changing the entire mindset and flow of things. He has noticed a significant improvement in the clients’ appreciation for his work, which makes him very happy.