OUR TEAM

We work together as an integrated team – from concept to completion.

This high degree of interaction between our team members ensures that every little detail gets the close attention it deserves.

The architects, engineers, crafts persons, and individuals in our team are willing to multi-task and passionate about what they do.

The Prakriti Design Build Team ensures that the projects are executed with utmost technical accuracy, quality, perfection and with excellent sense of aesthetics with the team member’s hands-on style involvement.

We focus on creating sustainable communities that are in harmony with their surroundings

Rojin Titto Cherian

Founder & Managing Partner

Rojin manages the operations of Prakriti Design Build. As the project director of Prakriti Aawaas, he played the pivotal role in end-to-end management from ideation to execution of individual homes at Prakriti Aawaas. A born manager, he has the uncanny knack of coordinating multiple teams to successfully deliver under strict timelines. A quality-conscious perfectionist, he offers unparalleled guarantee to his homes thus transforming them into immortal monuments.

Biley Menon

Architect

Biley Menon graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi with a Master of Architecture degree. His postgraduate thesis, ‘Ecological Aspects of Urban Design’ was the first of its kind and won the Best Thesis Award in the Department of Urban Design. After working with Prof. KT Ravindran in New Delhi, Biley started Idea Design, an eco-sensitive architecture and landscape design firm jointly with Ar. Chitra Biley. With over 20 years of professional experience Biley has grounded his practice based on an ecological architecture and urban design approach to find solutions to global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. He is a winner of the IIA National Award for Excellence in Architecture. UNESCO – New Delhi had appointed him National Expert for their initiative on heritage of Cochin. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Masters Program in Department of Urban Design, College of Engineering Trivandrum. He has jointly led consortiums with world renowned planners and designers in the fields of Urban Heritage Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Biodiversity Conservation, Botanical Gardens and Zoological Parks.

Chitra Biley

Architect

Chitra Biley graduated in Architecture from the University of Kerala with Gold Medal. She completed her Masters in Landscape Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi winning the Narendra Juneja Gold Medal for the best student in the department. Her Postgraduate Thesis, ‘Cultural Landscape of Kuttanad’ was first of its kind in the department and won the TJ Manickam Gold Medal for best thesis in all departments that year in School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. After working with Prof. Mohd. Shaheer, Landscape Architect, New Delhi, she started professional practice jointly with Ar. Biley Menon. A winner of IIA National Award for Excellence in Architecture, Chitra has extensive experience in Landscape projects as well as Landscape dominated Architecture and Planning projects. She is immensely talented in design and detailing and has in-depth knowledge of plants and horticulture. She has jointly led design of Ecological Restoration Parks, Environmental Education Parks and Zoological Parks along with world renowned ecologists, landscape architects and zoo designers.

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

Our Sustainable architecture seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space.

DESIGN FOR NATURAL LIGHT AND VENTILATION

Natural light and air flow into the homes through the corridors, bay windows, French windows and verandahs. The windows have comfortable seats where you can just relax with a cup of tea or book.

At Prakriti the homes open to the beauty of the landscape around. All the homes are aesthetically placed ensuring adequate natural light and cross ventilation. The strategic placing of the courtyards, nature blending landscapes and the use of thermally conducive materials are all features that reduce the necessity for artificial temperature control.

Eco-conscience drives our design and choice of materials and techniques such that you and your environment forge a relationship for life. We are committed to creating homes with low or no carbon emissions.

The layout has been planned in a way that helps retain much of the original topography. Thus, we have reduced the road areas and incorporated many of the trees in the landscaping. Houses take on the unique terraced character of the landscape and are built on multi-levels. Spaces within homes are efficiently planned. The amount of space wasted in circulation is saved by reducing the number of walls, light pools are created through a play of single and double height spaces.

The density of houses at Prakriti are low. The carbon footprints are greatly reduced by utilizing less than the maximum permissible area allowed to build, leading to lower material resources and hence less burden on the land.

Material

We intend to use a combination of energy-efficient and locally available materials in the construction of your homes. This ensures the use of minimal energy in their transportation and manufacture.
BURNT BRICK: It has excellent load-bearing properties, minimizing the use of steel and cement. Besides, it is a material that breathes and helps keep homes cool.
STONE: Another locally available material with excellent insulating properties and aesthetic beauty. Today building with stone is a craft that is slowly disappearing with the increasing dependence on factory-made synthetic materials, and therefore the need to revive its use.
WOOD: At Prakriti, wood is more than just an aesthetic source and is seen as a sustainable resource. To promote its use as a renewable resource, we intend to plant timber species within the community. A warm, intimate material, it replaces high energy consuming steel and aluminium for doors and windows and can be used even for floors. We believe in recycling old timber – from houses that are demolished, from packing cases, and from plantation timber—as opposed to forest timber.
NATURAL STONE AND CLAY FOR FLOORS: As natural floor materials, these are good for you and your family’s health. Wood and clay offers better insulation and comfort than synthetic floors. Besides they age beautifully with the years.

Water

RAINWATER HARVESTING AND RECHARGING: Rainwater is harvested and the ground water is recharged through well-spread out percolation channels across Prakriti. Roof water will also be channeled through pipes, and allowed to percolate to the earth through a series of percolation channels and pits thereby helps in aquifer recharges.
WATER RECYCLING: An on-campus sewage treatment plant recycles all waste water. The waste water from the kitchens and bathrooms is collected and treated with a series of bio-filters and then passed through planted reed beds, to emerge clean. This water is then used for gardening and for toilet flushing. The planted reed beds merge elegantly into the landscape.

Creating an environment for the land to rejuvenate becomes an important aspect of planning, especially for the psychological and cultural values they impart. You will be happily spared of well-manicured lawns or ornamentation plants that scream out “Touch me not” besides being high on maintenance and water consumption.

Your environment at Prakriti will be more interactive and engaging, after all you are here to forge a relationship with Nature!

Your home will be surrounded by a veritable encyclopaedia of plants and trees that are local and indigenous and have medicinal values. Relive the nostalgia of your own childhood as your children discover insects and birds, climb trees and create imaginative worlds in the nooks and corners of Prakriti. While you also experience the change in seasons as expressed through the flowering and shedding of the trees.