We are about

Neeraj Manchanda is the founding partner at BARGAD DESIGN (formerly Neeraj Manchanda Architects, NMA), an award-winning New Delhi-based practice. His work focuses on sustainable design for education, hospitality, healthcare, and residential projects across 14+ Indian states and internationally (Nepal, Vietnam). NMA/BARGAD DESIGN have collaborated with leading organizations nationwide.

Recognized as a top Indian architect, Neeraj has lectured and presented in India, the USA, UK, Canada, and Germany, and taught at TVB School of Habitat Studies and SPA, New Delhi.

His portfolio spans diverse domains, including pioneering social development in health and education, India's first raw-earth office building, and research on indigenous architecture in J&K, Rajasthan, and more. He has extensive experience in educational, township, luxury residential, and hospitality design.

Neeraj’s work has earned awards from the Indian Institute of Architects, French Institute of Architects, Indian Institute of Interior Design, Indian Education Congress, PHD Chamber of Commerce, and others. His designs are widely appreciated by users.

Before founding NMA in 1990, he was Lead Architect at Shelter Group, Society for Development Alternatives. He graduated from SPA, New Delhi, in 1985.

Madhu Pandit is a Partner at Bargad Design, where she leads projects across educational campuses, luxury townships, research organizations, residential developments, and sustainable design initiatives. Her work also extends internationally, with Bargad invited to design campuses in Nepal, Vietnam, and Japan.

Her journey began in Leh, Ladakh, where she worked with Tiger Tops, an early pioneer in eco-tourism and sustainable building. This experience shaped her lifelong commitment to design that is environmentally responsible and resource-conscious.

In 1986, Madhu became a Partner at TEAM (Team for Engineering Architecture & Management), which won the national competition for the National Gallery of Modern Art extension in New Delhi. During this period, she also received a British Council Travel Grant for museum studies in the UK and Europe, and went on to work on several museum and exhibition design projects.

At the turn of the millennium, she designed a Visual & Performing Arts Centre for the SOS Childrens’ Village in Bhimtal, repurposing the Palace of the Maharaja of Jhind. This marked the beginning of her deep engagement with adaptive reuse and retrofitting, themes that continue to define her practice. She later joined NMA (now Bargad Design), contributing to award-winning projects such as retrofits with major structural interventions of old historical buildings, campus revitalization of Woodstock School in Landour, Mussoorie and Doon School, Dehradun.

Madhu also co-founded GRAAM (Group for Relevant Architecture and Appropriate Methods), which trained local women in sustainable building methods as part of the Lok Jumbish Project in Rajasthan. She has also documented indigenous construction techniques in Ladakh and Jammu for the Department of Science & Technology.

Alongside her practice, Madhu is a regular speaker at conferences and teaches at leading schools of architecture. She serves as an examiner and thesis guide at institutions such as SPA Delhi, CEPT Ahmedabad, GITAM Visakhapatnam, USAP Dwarka, and Sushant School of Architecture, Gurgaon. Since 2020, she has been an Adjunct Professor at IIAD.

Madhu graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, in 1983.