Office: Meister Varma Architects | ArchDaily

Shilaya Cottage / Meister Varma Architects

Miwa Negoro — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Shilaya – from śilā, meaning stone- is a home in Kotagiri, a small town tucked away in the Nilgiris mountains of Tamil Nadu. Kotagiri was the earliest European settlement in this region in colonial times, and that architectural influence is clearly visible in the numerous stone churches, cottages, and missionary schools that dot the landscape. The project was built on the brownfield site of one such cottage that had partially collapsed.

Paliam Veedu / Meister Varma Architects

Andreas Luco — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 21:00:00 +0000

The Paliam family patriarchs were hereditary prime ministers to the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin, Kerala. Today the ancestral home and palace of this family is a heritage complex about an hour’s drive from the city of Cochin. The client who got a small parcel of 160 sqm in the family partition decided to build a vacation home on it.

Maison Kochi / Meister Varma Architects

Daniel Tapia — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Built on a tight 170 sqm plot for a family of four Maison Kochi also functions as studio and office in the South Indian city of Kochi. The west facing building is delineated in 2 volumes, the taller south-west block shading the shorter north-east one throughout the day. Living spaces are arranged in the shorter block while staircases and toilets face south or west to buffer the heat. An open plan arrangement and perforated net windows ensure ventilation across rooms. A vent in the roof access hatch cools the house with its chimney effect.

Identiti Advertising Renovation / Meister Varma Architects

Rayen Sagredo — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 20:01:00 +0000

Identiti is an advertising and branding agency run by a father-sons trio who wished to consolidate their home and office in different parts of the city into a spacious live-work unit. By the time we were approached, a building had been purchased for this purpose on a relatively compact 270 sqm site. The existing structure was an archetype of a build to rent style prevalent throughout Kerala with low daylight and even lesser character. Cramped room sizes resulting from a half-baked interpretation of Vastu (traditional Indian system of architecture) made matters worse.