Architecture & Engineering Practice
Built environment consulting that brings architecture, engineering, interiors and landscape together—connecting people, nature and the spaces they inhabit.
Architecture and engineering.
Designed together.
We connect the decisions that shape a place: its purpose, its relationship to the site, its spaces and how it will work. Our India practice brings design, engineering and project consulting together. Our Dubai practice provides architecture, interior and landscape design across the GCC.
Architecture & Engineering
Bring site, climate, use and budget priorities into the same conversation. Shape a clear direction for residential, hospitality, commercial and institutional projects.
Our integrated approachTropical, climate-responsive design is a strength of our practice. Architecture, interiors and landscape work together through orientation, shade and ventilation to reduce heat gain and improve everyday comfort.
Architecture and climateOur fee-based integrated project management for turnkey projects connects design decisions, programme and delivery coordination. Responsibilities and specialist appointments are defined for each project.
Project management consultancyRenovation & Adaptive Reuse
Changing needs do not always call for a new building. We assess what to retain, what to improve and how design can reconnect an existing space with everyday life.
Review the existing building, compare interventions and agree the design and specialist scope before work begins.
Explore renovation and adaptive reuseTargeted changes reconnect a family home with daylight, courtyards and its backyard. Explore the design decisions and the team behind the work.
Read the project storyShare your location, available plans and the ways your current building falls short.
Discuss an existing building01
Architecture for homes, hospitality and learning spaces, developed around the site, climate and the way the building will be used.
New buildings and adaptations
Architecture
Spatial design that resolves programme, place and purpose as a single act.
Typical scope
02
Plan buildings, access, landscape and infrastructure together before individual designs begin. Set a clear direction for how a site can develop over time.
Campuses, resorts and mixed-use sites
Master Planning
The ground rules of a project, set at the scale of the site.
Typical scope
03
Coordinate layouts, materials, lighting and furniture with the architecture, so daily use, comfort and the character of a space develop together.
Homes, hospitality and commercial interiors
Interior Design
Environments shaped by material, light and human experience.
Typical scope
04
Connect outdoor spaces with the building through planting, shade, movement and drainage considerations, informed by the terrain and existing vegetation.
Gardens, courtyards and shared outdoor spaces
Landscape Design
Ground-level interventions that bind building to ecology.
Typical scope
05
Understand what works and what gets in the way. Review movement, privacy, storage and comfort before deciding which changes deserve priority.
Existing homes, clinics, schools and businesses
Space Audit & Assessment
Understand how your space works before deciding what to change.
Typical scope
06
Explore what to retain, improve or adapt in an existing building. Develop layout options with structural and building-services coordination around the proposed changes.
Renovations, extensions and changes of use
Renovation & Adaptive Reuse
Assess, enhance and adapt existing spaces around changing needs.
Typical scope
07
Connect the client, designers and appointed contractors through programme review, design coordination and clear decision records within an agreed consultancy scope.
Fee-based support for turnkey projects in India
Project Management
Fee-based integrated project management for turnkey projects, coordinating design, programme and delivery responsibilities within an agreed consultancy scope.
Typical scope
08
Bring climate, comfort, materials and operating needs into early design decisions. Compare passive design and system choices before the design is fixed.
Environmental performance from the first brief
Sustainability Consulting
Environmental performance integrated from concept to operation.
Typical scope
09
Coordinate structural requirements and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems with architectural layouts, service routes, equipment space and maintenance access.
New-build and renovation design teams
Structural & MEP Coordination
Bring specialist input into the architectural design.
Typical scope
10
Plan vehicle access, parking, pedestrian routes and service movement alongside the site layout, with further surveys and specialist studies identified where needed.
Development and site-planning briefs in India
Traffic & Transportation Planning
Movement planning at building, district and city scale.
Typical scope
11
Review environmental site conditions, sensitive landscapes and water or ecological constraints to identify assessment needs and inform early project decisions.
Site assessment and environmental coordination
Environmental Engineering
Site assessment, impact analysis and ecological stewardship.
Typical scope
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RegulationsA practical guide to India’s coastal regulation zones, rural no-development setbacks and the records to check before buying or designing on coastal land.
7 min read
DesignMost of what gets called biophilic design is decoration added after the site has been cleared. The House Beneath a Jackfruit Tree in Kondotty shows a different approach: keep what is alive, let light do the work, and design for people to find each other.
7 min read
ProcessPlan joinery around everyday use, lighting and access instead of treating storage as leftover space.
3 min read"The built environment is not neutral. Design and engineering are forms of intervention in how people live, work, move and relate to each other."
URU was founded on a single conviction: that architecture and engineering practiced as separate disciplines produces worse outcomes for clients and worse buildings for the world. A decade of projects, published internationally and recognised by critics and peers across South Asia and the Middle East, has only deepened that belief. In 2025 the practice formalised its Gulf presence by establishing URU Design Services LLC in Dubai. The work continues to be built on disciplinary depth, institutional knowledge and an unwavering standard of integrated delivery.
About the practice100+
Projects delivered
10+
Years in practice — founded Kozhikode, 2015
11
Services — design, assessment and technical consulting
7
Sectors — the 7R framework
3
Active markets — India, UAE, Saudi Arabia
3
Group entities
The Partners
In 2015, four friends started URU in a small room in Kozhikode — built on a single refusal: that architecture and engineering should never be separate disciplines. The practice is named after the URU dhows of Beypore, wooden vessels shaped without a single nail, built precisely for the journey ahead.
Follow the practice for project updates, published work and perspectives on integrated design and engineering.
Follow URU Consulting Safder MachilakathURU organises its sectoral knowledge across seven domain areas. The disciplines — architecture, engineering, sustainability — are the same in every sector. What changes is the brief, the regulatory environment and the specific technical demands of the building type.
Sustainability at URU is not a service line. It is the evaluative lens through which every design decision is made, from passive cooling strategy in a Kerala courtyard to whole-life costing in a GCC commercial brief.
Our sustainability commitmentBuildings that restore rather than deplete. Net-positive outcomes for biodiversity, water cycle and embodied carbon.
Design that serves communities equitably. Daylight, ventilation and material durability are baseline obligations, not premiums.
Whole-life costing and adaptive reuse potential as the true measure of value. A building that lasts 100 years is more sustainable than one that replaces itself every 25.
Courtyard ventilation, laterite thermal mass, deep overhangs and cross-ventilation: the passive logic native to this landscape.
URU is a practice run on competence, creativity and self-integrity, not surveillance. We are building for the long run and we want people who think that way.
View all positionsNo open positions at this time, but we are always interested in exceptional people. Send your CV.
Architecture, interiors, engineering and project consulting, grounded in more than ten years of project experience.
Calicut / Kozhikode · Kochi · Bangalore
Planning a project in India?Architecture, interior and landscape design through URU Design Services LLC in Dubai.
Living abroad and building in Kerala?We welcome potential commissions and collaborations in Africa. Scope, delivery arrangements and local partnerships are assessed for each project.
Discuss an opportunity in Africa
