Kamal Sagar
Kamal Sagar is an Indian architect, designer, real estate developer, restaurateur, and music enthusiast. Based in Bangalore, India, he is the founder and chairman of Total Environment Building Systems, and Total Environment Hospitality.
Early life
Kamal graduated from IIT Kharagpur in 1992, with a degree in architecture. After a short stint with Omni Architects at Lexington, Kentucky, USA, he returned to India. As a young architect, he was entrusted with the design and construction of Poonawalla Stud Farms at Hadapsar and Theur, Pune. For this project, he extensively used exposed brick masonry, evolving a special technique with the help of steel spacers to bring out the character of every individual brick – in line with his core design philosophy of using natural materials that blend with the landscape and age gracefully. He built this out in a span of just 8 months, in time for the Asian Racing Conference by Asian Racing Federation on 27 January 1995.Career
In 1995, Kamal's move to Bangalore marked the beginning of a significant chapter in his career. He started his own architectural practice, first under his own name, and later as Shibanee & Kamal Architects, along with his wife and partner. In 1996, in his search for a one-bedroom apartment, he realized just how bad the state of large scale housing projects was, and saw tremendous scope to make a difference in this area. After several failed attempts in trying to get developers to accept his design ideas, he decided to take on the task of developing and constructing his projects. He founded Total Environment, a construction and real estate development company, to build out his designs. Total Environment has since built more than 4.5 million square feet of individually customized and furnished space, mostly homes, across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. "Tapestry", located in Frisco, Dallas-Fort Worth metro area in the US, is a 56-acre, 121-home residential community - the company’s first international endeavor.Kamal’s work has always been inspired by music, art and nature. His architectural inspirations include Frank Lloyd Wright, Bart Prince, Bruce Goff, Alvar Aalto, Mies van de Rohe, and Tadao Ando. He also draws inspiration from sources as varied as Enid Blyton, Alexandre Dumas, Pink Floyd, Ahmad Jamal, Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Los Paraguayos, etc.
In 2012, he founded Windmills Craftworks, a Jazz Theater, Microbrewery and Restaurant, where the audience gets to experience talent from across the globe at close quarters, with superior sound quality in a setting with beer and food. In less than two years, Windmills Craftworks soon established itself as a live music venue in Bangalore, bringing varied music ranging from Jazz, Blues, rock, folk, Bluegrass, Indian Classical music, Indian folk music and Latin.
Work
Design Philosophy
Kamal’s work has focused on using natural materials to create warm living spaces, through handcrafted homes that embrace nature. His people-centric design philosophy and the idea of providing a garden with every home have defined the product offerings of Total Environment. Over the years, he experimented with various different formats for these gardens, with most rooms having visual/physical access to these gardens.“We combine our design skills with excellent craftsmanship to deliver homes of the highest quality, always striving to design and build the most beautiful homes in the world," says Kamal Sagar
Total Environment has leveraged technology to deliver custom-designed homes at scale. Their proprietary platform "eDesign" offers homebuyers options to customize their floor plan and furniture layouts, feature enhancements, design studio, functional planning and much more in an online, 3D format.
Projects
1995 Poonawalla Stud Farms, Hadpsar, Pune, India1999 Ion Idea Corporate Campus, Whitefield, Bangalore, India
2000 Bougainvillea, Vibhuthipura, Bangalore, India
2000 Green is the Colour, BTM Layout, Bangalore, India
2001 The Good Earth, Ulsoor, Bangalore, India
2001 Webb India Limited – Corporate Office & workshops, Bommasandra, Bangalore, India
2004 Shine On, Rahath Bagh, Bangalore, India
2004 Time, Indiranagar, Bangalore, India
2006 Footprints, Indiranagar, Bangalore, India
2006 Residence for Navin Dhananjay, Hennur Road, Bangalore, India
2008 Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore, India
2009 Orange Blossom Special, Uday Baugh, Pune, India
2010 Greensleeves, Singasandra, Bangalore, India
2015 Windmills of Your Mind, Whitefield, Bangalore, India
2015 The Magic Faraway Tree, Phase 1, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore, India
2017 Van Gogh's Garden, Bangalore, India
2017 College of Engineering Pune
2020 Lost in the Greens, Bangalore, India
2021 A Few Honest Words, Bangalore, India
2023 Green-roof Walk Home, Hyderabad, India
Awards and recognition
In recognition of his work, Kamal has won several Architectural Design Awards - at both National and International levels – including many projects that were finalists at the World Architecture Festival.| S. No | Award | Category | Year | Project |
| 1 | Finalist at WAF, Singapore | Completed Buildings - House & Villa | 2024 | Green-roof Walk, Hyderabad |
| 2 | Finalist at WAF, Singapore | WAF Completed Buildings: Housing | 2023 | Lost in the Greens, Bangalore |
| 3 | Winner of The Economic Times Real Estate Conclave & Awards | Residential Project: Row Housing | 2022 | The Magic Faraway Tree, Bangalore |
| 4 | Winner of The Economic Times Real Estate Conclave & Awards | Architectural Project: Residential | 2022 | Windmills of Your Mind |
| 5 | Finalist at WAF | Highly Commended, Future Project: Office | 2021 | Total Environment Business Park |
| 6 | Finalist at WAF | Completed Buildings: Display | 2019 | Think Design, Bangalore |
| 7 | Finalist at WAF | Completed Buildings: Housing | 2019 | Van Gogh's Garden, Bangalore |
| 8 | Finalist at WAF | Completed Buildings: Housing | 2019 | The Magic Faraway Tree, Bangalore |
| 9 | Finalist at WAF | Completed Buildings: Higher Education and Research | 2019 | BHAU Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Pune |
| 10 | Finalist at WAF, Amsterdam | Best Large Scale Housing Project in the World | 2018 | Windmills of Your Mind |
| 11 | Winner of The Innovation in Structural Engineering | Bentley – Be Inspired Awards | 2013 | College of Engineering, Pune |
| 12 | Best Luxury Residential Project – South | Zee Business- RICS Real Estate Awards | 2011 | Windmills of Your Mind |
| 13 | Outstanding Concrete Structure | ICI – Birla Super | 2011 | Orange Blossom Special |
| 14 | Sustainable Design Award | Society Interiors | 2010 | Windmills of Your Mind |
| 15 | CNBC Arabia International Property Awards | Best Residential Architecture – Asia Pacific Region | 2009 | Windmills of Your Mind |
| 16 | CNBC Arabia International Property Awards | Best Residential Development – India | 2009 | Windmills of Your Mind |
| 17 | Runner-up for the Style Icon for Excellence in Architecture | Kansai Nerolac | 2007 | Shine On 2 |
| 18 | Winner of The Habitat Award for Apartment Planning | Architecture + Design Spectrum Foundation | 2005 | Time |
| 19 | Winner of The Habitat Award for Apartment Planning | Architecture + Design Spectrum Foundation | 2003 | The Good Earth |
| 20 | Winner of The Best Group Housing Project | JK Cements – Architect of the Year Awards | 2002 | The Good Earth |
| 21 | Habitat Award for Apartment Planning | Architecture + Design Spectrum Foundation | 2002 | Reach for the Sky |
| 22 | Habitat Award for Apartment Planning | Architecture + Design Spectrum Foundation | 2002 | Bougainvillea |
| 23 | Winner of The Institutional Architecture Award | Architecture + Design Spectrum Foundation | 2002 | Webb India Limited |
| 24 | Young Enthused Architect | Architecture + Design Spectrum Foundation | 2002 | The Poonawalla Stud Farms |