Tejas Kotak

Tejas Kotak, a Civil Engineer and currently pursuing a Master's degree in Engineering with a research focus on Earthen Construction, is the Founder and Managing Director of Sankalan, A Centre for Alternative Learning. He has been a founding member of Hunnarshala since its establishment in 2003 and served as the Executive Director for over 15 years.

Following the Kutch Rehabilitation work, Tejas Kotak and the Hunnarshala team actively responded to global disasters, including those in Indonesia and Nagapattinam. Alongside disaster response efforts, he has led research initiatives, promoted eco-friendly materials and techniques through artisan empowerment, and advocated for decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Tejas Kotak has also been responsible for overseeing the artisan entrepreneurship, research programs and managing the organization's finances.

Notably, significant projects have been accomplished under Mr. Kotak's leadership, including the conservation and restoration of Al Jahili Fort, Qasr Al Muwaiji, and Qattara Art & Culture Centre in Abu Dhabi, as well as the restoration of the Old Amiri Palace in Doha. Conservation projects across India and the construction of the Hunnarshala Office Campus have also been carried out.

Tejas Kotak has led collaborative research with the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland, focusing on "Assessing the Environmental Impact of Building Technologies in the Kutch District, Gujarat, India." Additionally, he has served as a research guide for Masters and Ph.D. students from MIT, Boston since 2016, specializing in passive cooling techniques and natural building materials specific to the Kutch region. Moreover, he spearheads training programs on Earthen Construction techniques for building artisans, architects, and students in the fields of architecture and engineering. Furthermore, Tejas Kotak made significant contributions to the development of construction guidelines for Compressed Stabilized Earthen Wall Buildings for GSDMA in 2001.

In addition to his role at Sankalan, Tejas Kotak holds positions in other organisations. Director of So Hath – 100 Hands Foundation for Building Artisans, and serves as a Trustee of CDD Society and Sakhi Sangini.