Nov 12, 2022 8.00 AM EST // 6.30 PM IST // 7.00 PM BDT
Noor Khan Design Studio (NKDS) was founded by architect Noor Khan in 2012, two years after completing his bachelor’s in architecture degree from Beaconhouse National University (BNU) Lahore, Pakistan.
Based primarily in Lahore, NKDS is an architectural design firm which covers projects of all scales and categories, including residential, commercial, communal, industrial, and master planning, with a team of 25 highly talented individuals with vast experience in design and construction supervision. With over 350 projects in our portfolio, our work covers all major cities of Pakistan and can be found internationally including countries like UAE, USA and Sri Lanka.
Their design ideology focuses on quality over quantity, striving for timelessness in all forms and aspects, designs that resonate pride even after generations and centuries. Our projects are taken as opportunities for experimentation and reflect a contemporary approach to architecture.
In 2014, after studying architecture in Kabul University, Ayaz Hosham started his career in building conservation which gave him the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of local craftsmanship and the traditional art of place making in Kabul. He has been part of the design team for Chihilsitoon Garden and Palace Rehabilitation, Stor Palace and Kabul Riverfront Transformation projects.
His master research, conducted in 2018 in Hiroshima University, focused on the environmental sustainability of the traditional courtyard houses in Kabul and Hiroshima. The results of his research are published in the Journal of Buildings and presented in PLEA 2018 and SBE 2019 in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
As a full time lecturer in the Department of Architecture in Kabul University he had the opportunity of conveying the importance of the local vernacular in addressing the contemporary issues in the built environment, in an instance when the cities in Afghanistan were losing their identity and required environmental sustainability. He has also served as Sustainable Architecture Specialist for the Office of the Senior Advisor to the President in Transportation Affairs.
In 2019 he established “Noqta”, a private design studio based in Kabul to combine research and design. The design approach was a cumulation of his past experiences in building conservation, architectural design and research in vernacular architecture. During a short period, the team in Noqta completed the design of a public building in Herat and two residential projects in urban and rural contexts in Kabul.
Ayaz is now working as an architectural designer for Allies and Morrison in London after leaving the country with his family following the political crisis in Afghanistan in August 2021.
