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Studio Aranya is an award-winning multi-disciplinary architectural practice based in Kochi, India. We offer professional services in architecture, urban design, landscape, interior & graphic design. The firm is involved in various master planning, urban renewal, placemaking, hospitality, residential and other public projects alongside private clients and public sector clients such as Cochin Smart City Mission Ltd, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, Kadapa Municipal Corporation, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Nellore etc.
The studio is led by principal architects Ar. Bella Ullas & Ar. Thejus Augustine. The studio has won the prestigious Young Architect Award at the Vanitha Veedu Architecture Awards 2025 (Vanitha Veedu is a subsidiary of Malayala Manorama News Paper) and the firm was featured among 100 distinguished architectural practices, as part of the Indian Institute of Architects Convention in 2025. Projects, such as the Community Plug and the Peoples’ Plaza made it to the Longlist, as part of the Merit List 2024-25, an initiative by Matter and Takshila Educational Society to reconginse projects of critical relevance in terms of design and thought in the context of contemporary architecture in India.
The firm has also presented their projects as part of the “Indo-French Day on Architecture and Urban Planning” – a symposium organised by the Embassy of France in India and the French Institute in India at the Alliance Française, Delhi in 2025. In 2023, the founders were invited as speakers at the CEPT Conference on Urban Design in India organised by the CEPT Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) and the Faculty of Planning at CEPT, Ahmedabad. Studio Aranya's notable projects, such as the 2.5 km Kochi Marine Drive Walkway Redevelopment for Cochin Smart City Mission Ltd. and Kunnara Park Redevelopment for Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, were published in “ Transforming Urban Landscape in India : A Compendium of 75 Public Spaces”, published by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) in 2022.
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Bella Ullas
Co-Founder & Principal Architect
B.Arch, M.Arch, AIIA
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Bella Ullas is an architect and urban designer based in Kochi, Kerala. She is currently the Principal Architect and Co-Founder at Studio Aranya, a multidisciplinary urban design and architecture practice in India.
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Bella holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the College of Engineering Trivandrum, Kerala, and a Master of Urban Design degree from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.
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She received her foundation in architectural practice from Sangath-Vastu Shilpa Consultants, Ahmedabad, under the guidance of the Pritzker Architecture Award laureate and Padma Vibhushan awardee Ar. B.V. Doshi. Prior to establishing Studio Aranya, she worked as an urban design consultant at NilaA Architecture & Urban Design, Delhi, where she worked on World Bank projects, Patna Riverfront Development, Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme projects and other master planning projects across India. She has also collaborated with numerous international agencies to undertake research on urban areas.
In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Young Urban Designers & Architects Programme (YUDAP) fellowship offered by the French government in collaboration with the French Ministry of Culture and Ecological Transition. She worked as an architect and urban designer with GCG Architectes in Paris, where she focused on the rehabilitation of institutional and residential buildings in the Haussmann Paris area.
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In addition to architecture, she is also into urban sketching and illustration and is passionate about creating graphical narratives of everyday life in cities. Her urban sketches were published in the Urban Sketchers World Forum.
Thejus Augustine
Co-Founder & Principal Architect
B.Arch, M.Arch, AIIA
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Thejus Augustine is an architect and urban designer based in Kochi, Kerala. He is currently the Principal Architect and Co-Founder at Studio Aranya, a multidisciplinary urban design and architecture practice in India.
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Thejus holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the College of Engineering Trivandrum, Kerala, and a Master of Urban Design degree from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.
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Prior to establishing Studio Aranya, he worked in various capacities in organisations including KITCO and AECOM, where he worked on various master planning, public projects and smart city projects across India and is actively engaged in academia and research.
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He was awarded the prestigious Young Urban Designers & Architects Programme (YUDAP) fellowship in 2022 offered by the French Government in collaboration with the French Ministry of Culture and Ecological Transition. He worked as an architect and urban designer with Enia Architectes in Paris, where he worked on projects in Paris, the UAE and South Africa.