Hiloni Sutaria and her Avant Garde Trail of Architecture

From sketching upside-down houses and whimsical, wonky designs as a child to crafting bold, avant-garde structures, Hiloni Sutaria found her true passion in architecture. At her design studio, Hsc Designs, her unconventional creativity comes to life, seamlessly blending purpose with function.

From creating a playground for a school where children have both a learning experience and an extremely fun playtime, to creating office spaces that spark curiosity and creativity, Hiloni Sutaria and her design firm Hsc Designs have constantly taken an approach that is research-based, educated and atypical, to arrive at the final design solution.

Hiloni Sutaria’s journey into architecture is as unconventional as her designs. Initially, she envisioned a career far removed from blueprints and construction—she thought she would become a dentist. However, a serendipitous conversation with her mother in 12th grade set her on a different path.

Despite struggling in art classes for high grades —her unconventional sketches of wonky, upside-down houses and whimsical flying objects earning little approval from her teachers—her distinct creative voice was already taking shape. While dismissed at the time, these imaginative drawings would later find their true purpose in architecture. Hiloni enrolled in architecture classes and quickly discovered a passion that far surpassed any previous academic experiences. This marked the beginning of her journey and the eventual founding of her studio, Hsc Designs.

In college, Hiloni fell deeply in love with architecture’s unique blend of creativity, precision, and problem-solving. She became captivated by its potential not only to create beautiful spaces but also to address real-world challenges and enhance everyday life. These formative years solidified her commitment to the field and shaped her design philosophy.

Today, she is recognized for her innovative and sustainable designs through Hsc Designs, where she integrates technology, client needs, and environmental considerations to create cohesive, functional, and aesthetically compelling projects. Her design philosophy is rooted in diligence and optimisation, ensuring that each space balances beauty with practicality. By drawing from diverse influences and embracing cutting-edge technology, Hiloni continues to push the boundaries of architectural innovation.

Always on the lookout for design innovations, Hiloni thrives in problem-solving and optimised designs: “We love working on all types of projects. More than commercial or residential what excites us about any new project is the scope of exploration, the challenges and the excitement of the clients’ expectations.”

SCALE sits down with Hiloni for a conversation on design and her love for the unconventional.

SCALE: When did your journey in design begin? Were you always interested in the field of interiors and art? What could have been the tipping moment?

Hiloni: My journey in design began somewhat unexpectedly. As a child, I would sketch unconventional, almost surreal houses in art class, often upside down, pushing the boundaries of traditional representation. Ironically, these imaginative drawings always earned low grades and as a result, I never seriously considered architecture as a career. The idea of pursuing architecture first came up in a casual conversation with my mother. Until then, it had never been a conscious choice, but something about that discussion sparked curiosity. It was during my introductory architecture classes, however, that everything clicked. Those initial lessons opened my eyes to a world where creativity, logic, and design thinking converged. That was the tipping point—when I realized that architecture wasn’t just a profession, but the place where I truly belonged.

SCALE: How did you start Hsc Designs? What is the story behind its name?

Hiloni: After spending a few years freelancing and working on independent projects, I officially founded Hsc Designs at the end of 2017. At the time, I had a handful of projects in my portfolio and I was also five months pregnant. Launching a firm while navigating impending motherhood was probably the best decision of my life. The journey since then has been an incredible mix of challenges and growth, filled with both triumphs and setbacks. Each experience has shaped Hsc Designs into what it is today, a studio driven by innovation, creativity, and a deep commitment to thoughtful, impactful design.

SCALE: What is the core philosophy behind Hsc Designs?

Hiloni: Our practice has a lot to do with finding design solution as opposed to focusing on aesthetics or design-ism. We try to use mathematical and logical solution systems to find the best possible design solution, treating each project as a different design problem. We believe in combining the client’s requirements, context challenges, climate, and community requirements to come up with unconventional solutions for projects.

Each of our project has an intrinsic experiential value that makes the spaces more usable and enjoyable for the end user. The solution systems designed for projects are derived upon after extensive research into the user’s patterns, functions, and interactions. We are constantly pushing the envelope in terms of use of technology and materials in design and architecture.

The firm is an advocate of sustainable use in architecture by promoting material reuse and zero wastage in various projects. Along with using sustainability in architecture and interior design the firm also is multidisciplinary and makes a lot of furniture pieces and installations which are largely made from construction waste trying to push grass roots sustainability as well. We try to be conscious of the kind-of work that we put in the skyline of the city, making sure that our work talks of its time without creating a burden of carbon waste on its future.

SCALE: Could you tell us about a project that you are particularly proud of? What made it special?

Hiloni: All our projects are super special and we strive to give a 100 percent to each, but the first few projects where we went against convention and tried things which broke the mould are especially the greatest achievements which paved the path to try to redefine things more. The Outhouse project, Versatile Decadence and its Extension project, Symbiotic parasite are two projects that I am still extremely proud of.

SCALE: Most of your projects have a design solution with very unconventional shapes and materials? Is that a conscious decision? Do you believe in making the form sensational?

Hiloni: From the inception of our firm, the idea always has been to challenge convention, to try and find new solutions to old problems. In this endeavor, it has led us to try unconventional materials, optimised shapes, and textures. So, while the decision of challenging convention is conscious the result is often instinctive. A sensational form is just an advantage of the result though not all of it results in sensational forms and is never the end goal.

SCALE: What has been one of the most challenging projects you’ve worked on, and how did you overcome the challenges?

Hiloni: Every project comes with its own set of challenges, but one of the most demanding has been designing a healthcare building in the heart of the city. The project presented multiple complexities from the outset—a highly constrained site, a dense and intricate functional programme, and ever-evolving city regulations due to its central location. Beyond design and regulatory challenges, execution posed another layer of difficulty. Our goal was to minimise material waste and optimize construction time without compromising the integrity of the design. To achieve this, we introduced VR technology as a key tool in the execution process, training our teams to visualise and refine construction details in a virtual environment before implementation. This approach has not only reduced unnecessary material usage but has also streamlined on-site decision-making, enhancing efficiency and sustainability.

SCALE: Where do you typically find inspiration for your designs—are there any architects, artists, or places that influence your work?

Hiloni: Inspiration in constant, through reading, travel, music , new experiences but the most inspiring architects and artists in my journey have been constructivist artist like El Lissistsky, Kazmir Malevich and architects like Neri Oxman, Bjarke Ingels, Zaha Hadid, Vinu Daniel and so many more.

SCALE: You already have worked on products for landscape and furniture for interiors? How and when did you branch into this?

Hiloni: The branching into our furniture vertical happened about 2 years ago where we thought of translating the furniture and products that we make for our projects into a separate vertical. The biggest part of the vertical is still our outdoor experiential pieces line which is made from construction waste and is our research into making functional use of construction waste.

SCALE: What next for Hsc Designs?

Hiloni: In the coming years we want to delve more into our grass roots sustainability research and work on translating that in our architectural projects. We are looking forward to expanding more on the furniture vertical as well as some exciting path breaking architectural projects that are finishing this year.

Short Takes:

How do you relax?

Travelling, it is also a great source of inspiration.

Design Mantra?

It has always been and will be, Client, Functionality and Context. We strive to find the perfect solution to any design problem.

Social media: Boon or Bane?

It has been a boon as it helps put your work out there and in a very democratized way it showcases your capabilities.

Where would you want to travel next?

South America.

Describe yourself in one word.

Chilled.