By Sidhant Shekhar Jha
Mumbai, June 7, 2025: As infrastructure and real estate sectors accelerate toward ambitious growth targets, architects are emerging as critical enablers of sustainable urbanisation. This was the resounding message at a press conference hosted by WOArchitect, where the organisation announced the WOArchitect Career Conclave 2025, slated for June 14.
What sets the conclave apart is not just its focus on career development in architecture—but its positioning of sustainability as a fundamental driver of future infrastructure and real estate development.
Speaking at the event, Ar. Milind Surve and Ar. Snehal Jagdale-Surve, Co-Founders of WOArchitect and Alternate Angle Consultants, made a compelling case for why sustainable design must be integrated into every phase of the built environment—from blueprint to execution.
“We’ve placed sustainability under the technology and management track because it’s no longer an isolated concept—it’s the core of how architecture contributes to infrastructure,” said Ar. Milind Surve. “Sustainability is about practice—it’s about how we build, what materials we use, how we orient buildings, and how efficiently we manage resources across the lifecycle of a project.”
Ar. Snehal Jagdale-Surve added, “As citizens, we often forget how reliant we’ve become on artificial systems—closed rooms, artificial cooling, and no ventilation. But as architects, especially those working in infrastructure and real estate, we can’t afford to forget. We have a duty to design solutions that work with nature, not against it.”
Their comments resonate deeply with the trajectory of India’s infrastructure goals. With the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) targeting over Rs 100 lakh crore investments by 2030 and India aiming for net-zero emissions by 2070, the construction and real estate sectors are under growing pressure to adopt low-carbon, resource-efficient practices.
Real estate accounts for nearly 7% of India’s GDP and is expected to reach USD 1 trillion in market size by 2030. Yet, it also contributes significantly to energy use, water consumption, and carbon emissions. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), buildings and construction are responsible for over one-third of global final energy use and almost 40% of energy-related CO₂ emissions.
For real estate developers and infrastructure consultants, the event offers access to a ready pool of talent that is not only creative but also equipped to think systemically—something increasingly necessary in projects involving smart cities, affordable housing, transportation nodes, and mixed-use developments.
As India pushes the envelope on sustainable urbanisation—be it through PM Gati Shakti, AMRUT 2.0, or green mobility projects—the need for cross-disciplinary professionals is at an all-time high. Architects who understand both design and environmental responsibility are essential to meeting the country’s climate goals while ensuring economic viability and user-centric outcomes.
“We’re no longer in the era where design is isolated from infrastructure strategy,” said Ar. Milind Surve. “In today’s real estate and urban development ecosystem, architects must think like planners, technologists, and sustainability consultants—all at once.”
As India builds for the future, architects play a significant role in shaping sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban spaces—bridging design, policy, and innovation to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving built environment.
