Achievements
SMEF’s Brick School of Architecture actively promotes participation in national, regional, university, and international design competitions as a vital extension of studio-based learning. These platforms enable students to engage with real-world architectural challenges, sustainability-driven innovation, performance-based design thinking, and socially responsive solutions. Such engagements strengthen research aptitude, teamwork, professional exposure, and design confidence, reflecting the institution’s commitment to outcome-based education and future-ready architectural pedagogy.
Solar Decathlon India (2021–2025)
Over the past five years, participation in Solar Decathlon India (SDI) has been strategically integrated into the academic framework, particularly as an elective for fourth-year B.Arch students. This initiative has sensitised students to climate-responsive design, net-zero thinking, and performance-driven architectural solutions.
Through collaborations with engineering institutes, industry partners, NGOs, and sustainability experts, students have gained hands-on exposure to building performance analysis, field research, community engagement, and solution-oriented design processes.
Notable achievements include:
2021–22:
Team Arnima – Winner, Single-Family Housing Division and Best Movie Award; Team Nest – Finalist, Construction Workers’ Housing (with Pune MahaMetro).
2021–22:
Team Samakrut – Winner, Community Resilience Shelter (with URVEE Public Trust); Team Lens – First Runner-Up, Educational Building (with Karunar Kheti Trust); Team Aahan – in collaboration with Goyal Properties.
2023–24:
Team Ekatvam – Winner, Community Resilience Shelter; Team Samarthan – Winner, Construction Worker Housing.
2024–25:
Team Ekashray – Finalist/Winner, Construction Workers’ Housing (with Anand Jyoti); Team Samavet – Runners-Up, Educational Institute Category (with Asha Care Trust).
AIS Design Olympiad
The AIS Design Olympiad encourages architecture students to explore future workplace environments through sustainable façades, energy performance strategies, adaptability, and human-centric design approaches. Participation in this competition has enabled students to experiment with performance-based design thinking and contemporary workplace typologies.
Consolidated achievements include:
2022–23:
- National Winner – Ram Kale, Pratik Mour
- National First Runner-Up – Siddharth Kadam, Neha Patil
- Central Region Winner – 2nd Prize – Ram Kale, Pratik Mour
- Central Region Winner – 3rd Prize – Ashutosh Gaware, Aditya Bhintade, Atharva Shinde, Vaishnawi Hunachagi
2023–24:
- Shortlisted for Zonal Round (West Zone):
- Team 3 – Tanvi Loyare, Dhruti Muzumdar, Ansh Kadam, Heet Sanghvi
- Team 5 – Komal Kumbhar, Shreya Dhargawe, Mayur Pande, Vaishnavi Magdum
- Team 6 – Bhumika Shinde, Gaurav Kankekar, Tejas Jamdar
- Team 9 – Ram Kale, Vedanti Pawar, Gauri Mahajan, Ansh Agrawal
- Regional Second Winner – Ram Kale, Vedanti Pawar, Gauri Mahajan, Ansh Agrawal
- National Third Winner – Ram Kale, Vedanti Pawar, Gauri Mahajan, Ansh Agrawal
2025:
- Regional 1st Runner-Up – Gaurav Kankekar, Bhumika Shinde, Harshraj Salunkhe
- Regional 2nd Runner-Up – Gauri Thange, Tejas Jamdar, Ansh Agrawal, Bhakti Bhalodi
ACARA Rookies (2023–2025)
The ACARA Rookies competition provides a platform for architecture students to showcase individual design excellence, conceptual clarity, and advanced representation skills at national and international levels.
Notable achievements include:
2023
- Shortlisted and presented for National Round – Ashutosh Gaware, Pratik Mour
- First Winner (National Round) – Pratik Mour
- Shortlisted and presented for International Round – Pratik Mour
2024–2025
- Silver Medal (University Level) – Tejas Jamdar
- Silver Medal (University Level) – Yash Mathapati
UNFOLD – Design & Build Competition (2023–2024)
The UNFOLD Design & Build Competition, curated by Folds Design Studio, is a national platform that encourages architecture students to engage in hands-on experiential learning through real-scale design and construction interventions. The competition focuses on bridging the gap between conceptual studio thinking and physical execution, enabling students to explore materiality, detailing, structural logic, and collaborative construction processes.
Key achievements include:
2023 – UNFOLD 0.2
- Trophy Winner (Team Category – National Level): Simran Sond, Saurabh Sahane, Shruti Khandelwal, Vanshika Parikh
2024 – UNFOLD 0.3
First Runner-Up (Individual Category – National Level): Simran Sond
ARCHUMEN – Architectural Quiz Competition
ARCHUMEN, organised by Ethos India, is a national-level architectural quiz platform that tests students’ knowledge of architecture, design theory, history, practice, construction technologies, and contemporary industry developments. Participation in such intellectually rigorous competitions strengthens students’ awareness of global architectural discourse, critical thinking abilities, and confidence in academic and professional forums.
Notable achievements include:
- First Runner-Up – Western Interface (Regional Level): Aashritha Jaladi, Heer Rawal
- Second Runner-Up – National Level: Aashritha Jaladi, Heer Rawal
- National Winner (Team Category): Nitish Rangaswamy, Swaraj Jadhav
These accomplishments highlight the institution’s emphasis on holistic architectural education that balances design innovation with theoretical knowledge, industry awareness, and competitive excellence.
PCERF Competitions & Vidyarthi Awards
Competitions and awards organised by PCERF provide architecture students with opportunities to demonstrate design innovation, academic excellence, and competitive preparedness at the university, regional, and national levels. Participation in such platforms strengthens conceptual clarity, presentation skills, teamwork, and professional confidence.
Notable achievements include:
- Padmashree B.G. Shirke Vidyarthi Awards – Winner Rank III (Regional Level): Ruchi Thakkar
- PCERF Vidyarthi Awards – First Winner (National Level, Individual Category): Ram Kale
- PCERF Vidyarthi Awards – Third Winner (National Level, Individual Category): Ashutosh Gaware
- Winner (University Level, Team Category): Dhruti Muzumdar, Ishwari Patil, Ayush Apade, Tanvi Loyare, Komal Karale
- First Runner-Up (University Level, Team Category): Tejas Patil, Sakshi Wath, Rutuja Girame, Kaustubh Somshetti, Anushka Pansare
- Second Runner-Up (University Level, Team Category): Mayur Pande, Komal Kumbhar, Shreya Dhargawe
These recognitions reflect the institution’s strong emphasis on academic competitiveness, design excellence, and consistent performance across multiple platforms.
Urban Memoirs – International Competition (2025)
Urban Memoirs is an international design competition that invites participants to represent their personal relationship with the city through the creation of cognitive maps that blend memory, emotion, spatial perception, and cultural narratives. The competition encourages students to interpret urban environments beyond their physical form, exploring how globalization, lived experiences, and evolving cultural landscapes shape individual understanding of place.
Through artistic representation and narrative writing, participants develop skills in visual storytelling, conceptual thinking, and experiential mapping, contributing to a deeper engagement with urban studies and creative architectural communication.
Notable achievements include:
2025
• Winner (Individual – International Level): Atharva Desai
• First Runner-Up (Team – International Level): Swaraj Jadhav, Jonathon Jencin
• Juror’s Commendation (Individual – International Level): Nitish Rangaswamy
These recognitions reflect the institution’s encouragement of interdisciplinary exploration, artistic innovation, and global engagement in architectural representation and urban imagination.
Charles Correa Gold Medal Awards (2022)
The Charles Correa Gold Medal, instituted by the Charles Correa Foundation, is one of the most prestigious national recognitions for outstanding undergraduate architectural thesis projects across architecture schools in India. The award celebrates visionary design approaches that respond meaningfully to site, context, societal needs, and emerging environmental challenges. The 2022 edition foregrounded the theme of climate-responsive architecture, echoing Charles Correa’s enduring principle of “Form Follows Climate” in the context of the Anthropocene and the construction industry’s impact on global carbon emissions.
In a proud achievement for SMEF’s Brick School of Architecture, Amay Raskar received the First Honorable Mention at the national level for his thesis project titled “AI + X Paradigm Research Centre.” Guided by Ar. Ninad Rewatkar, the project proposed an environmental research centre that explored the integration of computational intelligence and building diagnostics tools to optimise passive design strategies. The design employed procedural transformations of a modular volumetric grid to enhance daylight penetration, thermal performance, cross ventilation, and spatial organisation, while creating porous public interfaces, green terraces, and visually connected open-to-sky voids.
This recognition reflects the institution’s strong emphasis on climate-responsive design thinking, technological innovation rooted in vernacular wisdom, and research-driven architectural pedagogy. The achievement was supported by the sustained mentorship and academic guidance of the institution’s leadership and sustainable design faculty, reinforcing its commitment to nurturing future-ready architects capable of addressing complex environmental challenges.
Housing Studio Open Ideas National Competition – INHAF + SI
The Housing Studio Open Ideas Competition, organised by the Indian National Habitat Forum (INHAF) and Sustainability Initiatives (SI), provides a national platform for architecture students to explore innovative, empathy-driven and contextually responsive housing solutions. The competition encourages design explorations focused on livability, modular adaptability, spatial efficiency, and inclusive urban redevelopment strategies.
- National Winner (Individual): Hriday Sharma
- Participating Students: Aayushi Dev, Abhijeet Landge, Anushka Sirohiya, Bhakti Bhalodi, Jinto Joshy, Samruddhi Mirkute, Sanskruti Sahuji, Vrushank Shirodkar
- First Place (National): Chirantan Patil – Project: Vishrantwadi–Wadarwadi, Pune
- Special Mention (National): Vedashree Kulkarni – Project: SRA Project, Vishrantwadi Circle, Pune
- Special Mention (National): Harsh Agarwal – Project: SRA Project, Vishrantwadi, Pune
Graphisoft Design Challenge (2024)
The Graphisoft Design Challenge, organised by ACEDGE, is a national-level architectural competition that encourages students to demonstrate design excellence through the effective integration of digital tools, BIM-based workflows, and innovative spatial solutions. The platform enables participants to strengthen their skills in computational design thinking, architectural visualisation, and performance-oriented project development.
2024
• National Winner (Individual): Tanvi Loyare
This achievement reflects the institution’s growing emphasis on technology-enabled design processes, digital competency, and future-oriented architectural education.