Shade Design Studio - Zest Creative Co. Win Architecture - Interior Design Excellence Awards 2026

Mumbai, Maharashtra Aug 29, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - Ar. Darshan B. Gala and Maulik Shah were recognised at a ceremony presented by Beginup Ventures India, for a shared body of residential and commercial work.

Shade Design Studio and Zest Creative Co. today announced that their principals, Ar. Darshan B. Gala and Maulik Shah, have been awarded two honours at the Architecture & Interior Design Excellence Awards & Conference 2026 Global Edition, held at Taj West End, Bengaluru, and presented by Beginup Ventures India.

The ceremony brought together architects, interior designers, and consultancies from across the country to mark a year of work in the built environment. Against that backdrop, Shade Design Studio and Zest Creative Co. were named recipients of two separate honours on the same evening a firm-of-the-year recognition and a special award for consultancy both tied to the collaborative practice the two studios have built together over the past year across residential and commercial projects.

The awarding body cited the studios consultancy approach and consistency of design standard as central to its decision. Unlike recognitions built around a single flagship project, both honours point to a pattern across a body of work: close, ongoing engagement with clients, unhurried attention to detail, and design intended to hold up to everyday use rather than a single photograph. That distinction matters in a category where citations often go to a single standout address: it is one thing to recognise a striking result, and another to recognise the working relationship that produces consistent results across very different briefs, from private homes to commercial spaces with entirely different functional demands.

Neither honour was built on a single project, said a spokesperson for Shade Design Studio and Zest Creative Co. They were built on attentive consultancy, patient detailing, and a standard the two studios hold in common. When two practices work as closely as we do, recognition like this reflects the partnership as much as it reflects any individual address. We see it as a marker of where the collaboration has been, and a reason to hold ourselves to the same standard going forward.

THE HONOURS

I. Trusted & Creative Architecture & Interior Design Firm of the Year 2026

Maharashtra · Category: Residential & Commercial Projects

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Awarded to Shade Design Studio Ar. Darshan B. Gala and Maulik Shah.

This honour recognises Shade Design Studios standing within Maharashtras architecture and interior design community, across both residential and commercial project categories a dual citation that reflects the range of the studios recent portfolio rather than work concentrated in a single sector. For a practice operating across two project types with quite different constraints regulatory, budgetary, and experiential a single Firm of the Year citation covering both is a comparatively rare recognition, and one the studios point to as validation of a deliberately broad practice rather than a narrower specialism.

II. Golden Door Award for Excellent Consultancy

Category: Architecture & Interior Design Domain

Awarded to Ar. Darshan B. Gala and Maulik Shah.

Presented as a special award rather than a project-specific citation, the Golden Door Award recognises the consultancy relationship itself the process of working with clients from early concept through to completed space as distinct from any single finished project. Within the awards broader category structure, special awards of this kind are typically reserved for a small number of practices each cycle, awarded at the discretion of the organising body rather than through open project submission.

ABOUT THE AWARDS

The Architecture & Interior Design Excellence Awards & Conference is an annual, multi-category program organised by Beginup Ventures India, recognising architecture and interior design practices, consultancies, and individual practitioners across residential, commercial, and allied categories. The 2026 Global Edition ceremony was held on Thursday, August 13, at Taj West End, Bengaluru, Karnataka, in partnership with Architecture Herald and IDPBE Rating (The India Design & Architecture Brand Equity Rating).

EVENT DETAILS

Event: Architecture & Interior Design Excellence Awards & Conference 2026 Global Edition

Presented by: Beginup Ventures India

Venue: Taj West End, Bengaluru, Karnataka

Date: Thursday, August 13, 2026

Presented to: Ar. Darshan B. Gala & Maulik Shah, on behalf of Shade Design Studio and Zest Creative Co.

Presented by (individual): Mr. Anand Gopal Naik, Managing Director, Beginup Ventures India

ABOUT SHADE DESIGN STUDIO & ZEST CREATIVE CO.

Shade Design Studio, led by Ar. Darshan B. Gala, and Zest Creative Co., led by Principal Designer Maulik Shah, work in collaboration across residential and commercial architecture and interior design projects. The two studios operate as independent practices that partner closely on shared projects, combining architectural and interior design expertise under a single consultancy relationship with clients from early planning through to completed spaces.

The studios recent body of work spans both residential and commercial categories, the same range reflected in this years award citation. Their approach centers on sustained, hands-on consultancy rather than a hand-off between design and execution phases, with both principals remaining directly involved with a project from concept through completion. That involvement is what the studios describe as the throughline between this years two citations: a consultancy is only as consistent as the people who stay engaged with it, project after project, and the recognition arrives at a moment the studios are treating as a checkpoint rather than a conclusion a reason to hold the same standard of attention across the work still ahead.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Taj West End, Bengaluru · Architecture Herald · Beginup Ventures India · IDPBE Rating

MEDIA CONTACT

Shade Design Studio × Zest Creative Co.

For interview requests, additional photography, or further comment from Ar. Darshan B. Gala or Maulik Shah, please reach out via the contact details on file.