Badri Thiyagrajan: A Design Practice Built Around The Way We Live

Some practices begin with a plan. Mestiere Design Studio began with an unexpected opportunity. In 1999, a conversation with a friend led Badri Thiagarajan to design and build a 2,500 sq ft office for Satyam Computers in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. What followed was a series of projects for the company across Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad. Today, the self-funded practice has grown into a design-to-build firm with more than 500 projects to its name, spanning architecture, interiors and landscape.

Badri’s route into the profession was not a conventional one. Raised in a family with a multi-generational legacy in jewellery and silk businesses, he was expected to join the family enterprise. He chose instead to find his own path. The Satyam project gave him an early foothold in the built environment, and the confidence that he had found work he wanted to pursue. It also made clear that instinct alone would not be enough. He set about building a formal understanding of the discipline.

He studied interior design and arts at Jenson and Nicholson, completed an MBA at Madurai Kamaraj University, and studied construction management at PSG College of Technology. He also travelled to different countries to broaden his design perspective, and worked with established architecture and interior design firms in Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. A period of hands-on learning with a Singaporean architectural firm, under the guidance of its principal architect, became another formative influence on his practice.

From a single brief to an integrated practice

Founded in 1999 with a focus on corporate workspaces, Mestiere has since expanded into residential, commercial, institutional and retail projects across India. Over time, Badri came to see a recurring problem in the way projects were delivered: when concept design, engineering and construction were handled by separate teams, the original intent could easily get lost between the drawing board and the site.

His response was to bring the disciplines together. Mestiere evolved into an integrated practice combining architecture, interior design, landscape, engineering and execution. A team of architects, engineers and project managers works across the process, giving clients a single point of accountability—from the first brief to the final handover. The aim is to make the journey more coordinated and transparent, while keeping the design intact through construction.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, with a support office in Madurai, the firm works across several Indian cities. Its core team comprises about 21 professionals, supported by a site workforce of 350 to 600 people, depending on the scale of each project. Entirely self-funded, the business generates annual revenue of ₹12 crore to ₹15 crore. Its growth has come largely through word of mouth and repeat clients rather than aggressive marketing.

The client portfolio includes TCS, IBM, Nokia, Coca-Cola, Daimler Benz, ICICI, HDFC and Barclays. Working with large corporations brought its own demands tight timelines, carefully managed budgets and complex technical requirements. For Badri, meeting those expectations helped professionalise the practice and establish the processes it relies on today.

Where design meets the realities of building

For Badri, a design is only as successful as its execution. A compelling presentation is one thing; making the idea work within the realities of engineering, budget, schedule, materials and site conditions is another. Mestiere’s design-to-build approach is intended to keep those considerations in view from the outset, rather than treating construction as a separate stage.

The process moves from client conversations and concept development to technical planning, material selection, visualisations and detailed working drawings. On-site mock-ups and hands-on construction management help carry the original intent through to completion. The emphasis is on continuity: what is imagined and drawn should remain legible in what is finally built.

The studio is currently working on a 40,000 sq ft headquarters for a German automotive company in Bengaluru, alongside several high-end residential projects. These include a 12,500 sq ft home for a returning client.

A dialogue between heritage and the contemporary

Mestiere describes its design philosophy as a meeting of heritage and futurism. For Badri, this is not about reproducing historical styles. It is about looking closely at the ideas behind them how spaces are organised, how materials are used and how architecture responds to its cultural and climatic setting and finding ways to bring those principles into contemporary life.

One example is a technology workspace designed for a team of 600, where the studio reinterpreted elements associated with Mughal architecture, including arches and symmetry, within a contemporary office environment. Badri sees traditional design as a continuing source of practical knowledge, particularly in climate responsiveness, material use and spatial planning.

The case for healthier buildings

Another influence on the practice is building biology: an approach that considers the relationship between buildings and the health of the people who use them. At Mestiere, this begins with the fundamentals of a site—its orientation, the movement of the sun, the choice of materials, and the potential for natural light and ventilation. Reducing the need for artificial cooling is part of the same conversation.

Badri is sceptical of extensive glass façades in hot Indian climates. In such conditions, he argues, large expanses of glass can increase indoor heat and create a greater dependence on air conditioning. The studio instead focuses on climate-responsive design, natural ventilation and materials suited to local weather conditions.

The Brick House, near Pondicherry, brings these ideas together. Built using traditional techniques, the residence combines rammed earth walls, adobe, exposed brickwork and vaulted clay-tile ceilings. A central courtyard brings daylight into the home and helps air move through it. Stone found on the site was reused for flooring and wall cladding, while the surrounding landscape includes a mini forest of native crops and fruit trees.

For Badri, luxury is not a matter of conspicuous finishes or expensive gestures. It lies in precision, context, functionality and, ultimately, in how a space feels to live in. More than two decades after Mestiere’s founding, the focus has shifted from establishing the firm’s credibility to growing a multidisciplinary organisation equipped to take on increasingly complex projects. The beginning may have been unexpected; the practice that has emerged from it has been shaped, steadily and deliberately, over time.