The thesis: Interior design portfolios are full of renders that never got built. Design schools teach you to imagine spaces but rarely give you a budget, a real room, and a deadline to transform it. The Design Builder residency is a live commission: you redesign actual rooms at Safina Plaza with a real budget, real constraints, and real people living in the result.

What a typical week looks like: The first two weeks are intensive — you audit your assigned spaces, interview the residents who use them, research materials and vendors in Bengaluru, and present your design proposal. Once approved, weeks 3-10 are execution — sourcing, procurement, build-out, and iteration. You manage the project end-to-end. Wednesday afternoons are design reviews with the Hub team and any visiting architects or designers. The final two weeks are documentation — professional photography, process case study, and portfolio preparation.

The structure: Weeks 1-2 — space audit, user research, concept development, proposal presentation. Weeks 3-10 — design execution with ₹25,000 Room Revamp Fund. You have budget authority. You make the calls. You live with the consequences (literally — you live on campus). Weeks 11-12 — final installation, professional documentation, portfolio build, and handover.

This is for you if you're a design student or early-career designer who wants a real project — not a render, not a concept, but a built space with your name on it. You can source materials, manage vendors, and work within constraints. This is not for you if you only work in software or only want to do concept design. This is physical. The rooms are real. The furniture arrives on trucks.

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Current residents: Richaa & Tiyasa — actively redesigning Hub spaces. Their work becomes part of the campus that hundreds of builders use daily.

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₹15,000/month (3 months) + ₹25,000 Room Revamp Fund provided by The Hub. You pay below-market Bengaluru rent and get a portfolio project with actual budget authority. The Hub gets beautifully redesigned spaces. Selection-based — 2-3 spots per year. Apply with portfolio + design philosophy statement.

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