Karan Grover is accustomed to being a man on the move…and this is tellingly evident when we try to get the globetrotting Vadodara-based architect to stay still for a photograph. Cheerful and animated when we have had the pleasure to interact with him at architecture or design award ceremonies, heritage awareness programmes, art exhibition openings or wine tasting events where he is invariably the life of the party, he fidgets uncomfortably and acquires a deadpan expression when the lens is trained on him – until wife, Nisha prods him into life again. Then Grover laughs his characteristic hearty laugh. Here is a man who believes in doing everything with intense passion…or not at all.

When he invites you over for potluck, he does not take it as casually as it sounds. Despite digging his fingers into many pies, the charismatic crusader of varied causes ensures that the meal smells, looks and tastes the way he has imagined it. “The biryani lunch seems simple, but elaborate planning has gone into it,” divulges Grover, who selected a tasteful platter with a stunning dhakkan for the biryani, an exquisite plate from the Metropolitan Museum in New York for the raita and a beautiful Bali spoon to serve it. His attention to detail extends to the floral napkins that reflect the mood of the garden beyond the glass doors. “It’s impossible to eat outside due to the scorching heat, so I tried to bring the essence of the madhumalti and pergola inside,” he explains.

Grover obviously detests false modesty, for he takes immense pride in drawing attention to his design skills – evident in the handpicked furniture, discerning art and assorted accessories that pepper his beautifully-appointed home. His frenzied work schedule does not stop him from arranging the flowers either, despite the fact that his visiting artist aunt from Australia would have undoubtedly enjoyed the task. From a Japanese bowl with tiny blossoms floating serenely on the surface to a wildly exuberant arrangement of banana leaves camouflaging a smaller vase set within a monstrously large one…he tries it all. “This has no logic,” he grins with unconcealed delight, “but that’s the way I wanted it.”

It is that fundamental quality of getting what he wants, that has made Grover an achiever par excellence. Recently, he made news worldwide when the CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre designed and built by him in Hyderabad won the Platinum rating from the US Green Building Council (USGBC) – the first building outside the USA to have done so! The USGBC criteria are classified according to: sustainability of the site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environment quality, innovation and design process…and out of 69 points, the Grover design won 56.

Essentially, he has employed lessons learnt from Indian tradition. “This is a courtyard building and we have made use of jaalis...because when hot air comes in through a small opening and expands, it cools,” explains Grover. “We’ve used a wind tower to reduce the ambient air by 10 C and then give it to the air handling unit (AHU), so the AHU has less to cool. About 88 per cent of the building is naturally lit and does not need artificial light during the day. We recycle 100 per cent of the water, so our intake from the corporation is reduced by 35 per cent. We used 80 per cent of recycled material in the construction and reduced our load of air conditioning by 20 per cent, so we use half the energy to run the building.” The note of pride in his voice is unmistakable as he points out that “these are all major achievements which had not been accomplished before”.

Causes like environment and heritage conservation come naturally to Grover, who has visited museums and historic sites worldwide with his parents as a child. It is not surprising that his obsession with construction goes hand in hand with his passion for preservation. What is surprising is that this innate passion was cultivated thanks to the fact that he was a sportsman! When he came to Vadodara as an architecture student in 1969, he had earned laurels for swimming at Elphinstone College, Mumbai – so he arranged to meet the person in charge of the pool where he could practise his sport. That person was archaeologist, Arun Mehta, who had spent years excavating Champaner. A bond was forged…and every weekend, the young Grover was taken to the site and schooled in its significance.

Inevitably, the day came for Mehta to pass on the baton. “He said to me: Look, I’ve given 30 years of my life to Champaner, now I want to give it to you,” discloses Grover. “I remember laughing and saying: I’m 22 years old, how can you give me this city? It’s a buried city, it’s not yours to give…but he insisted that he needed my commitment. Finally, I agreed and promised to make it a World Heritage site. He died the next day…and at his funeral, his wife told me that he had packed a trunk, full of his excavation drawings of Champaner, the previous night. I was convinced I had to do this for him.”