Ishaque Maniyar: Building with sense and sustainability

Ishaque Maniyar shares his take on building with sense and sustainability. The roles and responsibilities of any organisation are hardly limited to their core offering. Ambrosia Design Pvt. Ltd. is an interdisciplinary engineering consultancy but its foundation lies in enabling sustainable development for the country. Their services include mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-fighting (MEPF) design consultancy, and project management. But the outlook of the practice is geared towards conserving energy, best practices for building efficiency, utilising natural resources like solar energy and rainwater harvesting, etc. for their projects. Ishaque Maniyar, Director, speaks with utmost clarity, precision and objectivity as he discusses responsibilities and opportunities that his practice generates.

A common thread runs across their typologies – of creating cities and enabling holistic development.

Ambrosia Design is generating a domino effect as it takes accountability of environment consciousness as well as nation-building. The practice designs across scales and typologies. Their work includes cutting-edge high-rises to large scale infrastructural projects. And they also undertake Green Building design, Special Economic Zone (SEZs) and projects that involve Ministry of Environmental & Forest Committee. But a common thread runs across these typologies – of creating cities and enabling development that is holistic, offer a superior standard of living and contribute towards nation-building. The idea of creating does not pertain to mass-producing buildings or townships. They contribute towards better designs for the longevity of structures, energy efficiency to maintain ecological balances and finally, driving and strengthening the economy through entrepreneurship.

Ishaque Maniyar was aware of the power of entrepreneurship to build the economy, improve standard of living and generate economic opportunities for all. He says, “It was my dream since college to build a business. I always believed that as an entrepreneur, we should contribute to the world by making it a greener and live-able. Leadership was always on my mind during college. It was only after a series of interviews in various fields, I decided to kickstart my career in MEP consultancy.

They have completed over 2500 projects across scales and typologies; from 2000 sq. ft. to 5,000,000 sq. ft. and from 10 meters to 250 meters height. They encompass segments like commercial buildings, residential construction, hospitality, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, factories, industries, warehouses and infrastructure. Major works include Diamond Bourse – 30 Lacs sq. ft (World’s largest Diamond Bourse), Marsleeva Super Speciality Hospital, Ahuja Towers which is India’s fourth-tallest high-rise to obtain an OC. While the vast spectrum of their work is commendable, Ishaque also addresses the elephant in the room. “In the current scenario development is directly proportional to environmental hazards”, he says. His drive is to create a situation where development equates with healthy and liveable cities. He says, “Designing and planning infrastructures accordingly is imperative. City infrastructures are being planned accordingly. While change is transpiring, it’s moving at a slower pace.”

Post the pandemic, the market will move towards economical segments as a majority of the workforce will concentrate on recoveries.

Ishaque also adds that COVID-19 has drastically affected construction. Post the pandemic, or perhaps as the world accommodates new ways of building, the market will move towards economical segments as a majority of the workforce will concentrate on recoveries. But he is positive that the situation will turn even as the pandemic continues. “People have begun finding alternatives to pre-COVID markets as they focus on working post-COVID scenarios; survival is the key right now which will be followed by growth,” he says.

In the near future, Ambrosia Design is looking to target the segments of infrastructure, industrial construction, warehousing, data centres, healthcare and hospitality. They are currently working on several projects. (Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust), Lodha Developers, Godrej Properties, Warehouses for Future Group, Data Centre (Shell and Core) for Beary’s Group amongst other projects.

While Ambrosia Design knows its priorities and objectives for the greater good of development, there are three key principles of design that they abide by: adaptability, innovation and sustainability. They have streamlined their systems to function in tandem with their personal goals and the betterment of all: from the stakeholders to the society. Ishaque’s ambition does not limit itself at serving the country but fostering long-term transformation. “In comparison to the developed countries, we still lack deploying technology, though we possess intelligence. There is scope to integrate technology into modern development. I strongly believe if we all collectively strive and work, we can make the change.”