Updated weekly · Free
The week in Indian architecture practice — the code and byelaw changes, the government schemes, and the deadlines you can't miss. Every item carries a source. Built for architects who'd rather not read ten portals on a Monday.
Latest issue
Zaha Hadid Architects drops its founder's name to become ZHA — a global lesson in succession, brand and who owns a practice's name — while at home the shift to NBCS 2026 keeps rolling out state by state.
Solar / MNRE
Reported early Jun 2026
With rooftop-solar installs running in the lakhs each month under PM Surya Ghar, solar-readiness has shifted from an add-on to a baseline brief on residential work — plan roof structure, shading, cable routes and inverter/battery space for it from the concept stage rather than retrofitting later.
PM Surya Ghar portalNBC / BIS
Ongoing
Because SP 7:2026 is a reference framework, each state and municipal authority amends its own byelaws on its own timeline. Track your state's DTP/UDD notifications week to week rather than assuming a single national changeover, and re-check fire-NOC and structural assumptions made under the older edition.
International / Practice
Announced 13 Jun 2026
On 13 June 2026, a decade after Zaha Hadid's death, the London practice she founded announced it will trade simply as ZHA — new name, identity and website. The firm frames it as the coming-of-age of an employee-owned collective of nearly 500, with the final founder-led projects nearing completion. The backdrop is harder: a 2013 licensing deal with the Zaha Hadid Foundation (royalty reportedly ~6% of revenue; some £21.4m paid 2018–2024), a 2024 High Court loss, and a March 2026 Court of Appeal ruling (Lord Justice Birss) that the licence was not perpetual — clearing the way to rename and end the Foundation contract. Worth a read for any practice carrying a single founder's name: it is a rare public worked example of succession, brand equity and the intellectual property in a name.
DezeenThe Practice Brief is compiled from primary sources (BIS, the Council of Architecture, PIB, RBI and state RERA/planning portals) and reputable trade press. Items are dated honestly and linked to their source — always verify against the source before you rely on a figure for a live project.
