Hansa Baliga

I’m a designer, researcher, and maker. I’ve always enjoyed embroidery, cross-stitching, and working with my hands, activities that bring me joy and connect to how I think about design. I’m drawn to material-led processes that intersect with sustainability, circularity, and systems thinking.

My focus is on biomaterials, textile waste, and circular design. I trained as an architect and completed my Master’s in Bio-Integrated Design at The Bartlett (UCL), where I explored plant-based yarns, beer waste, bacterial strengthening, and material prototyping. Since then, I’ve worked as a Research Assistant on enzymatic textile upcycling, mapped regional textile waste systems across North East England, and engaged with people across industry, policy, and academia.

What drives me is the potential of microbial processes, material innovation, and low-carbon methods to reshape how we design and build. Whether I’m winding natural fibres into composites or translating research into prototypes, I care about connecting material experimentation to real-world impact.

I’m interested in collaborative, research-led approaches that make space for nuance and uncertainty. I’m currently exploring PhD options and open to opportunities in sustainable architecture, materials research, or interdisciplinary design.

I’m a multidisciplinary researcher and architect working across sustainable materials and architectural design. As a research assistant at Newcastle University, I researched textile waste systems in the North East of England, mapping regional challenges and opportunities through interviews and surveys with stakeholders including WRAP, local councils, and FibreLab.

During my master’s at The Bartlett, I developed biomaterials using brewery waste, experimenting with over 70 material combinations and achieving a 29% increase in compressive strength. I also created self-standing 3D fibre structures using natural binders and biomineralization techniques, prototyping meter-scale components that explored the structural potential of bio-based composites.

Before this, I worked as an architect in India, focusing on vernacular and low-cost construction. At Moodbidri Farmhouse, I reduced construction costs by 20% through local sourcing and reuse strategies. I also designed facades using traditional lattice techniques, rethinking them for contemporary contexts.

My work moves across research and practice, combining material experimentation, computational methods, and sustainable construction, always looking for grounded ways to rethink how we design and build.

Masters - M.Arch Bio-integrated design from Bartlett school of Architecture, University College London.

Bachelors - B.Arch from Manipal school of Architecture and Planning, Manipal, India.