Abha Narain Lambah Associates since 1998 has pioneered architectural conservation in India, receiving 13 UNESCO Asia Pacific Awards for Heritage Conservation, Architect of the Year – Architectural Digest 2019, AD100 List since its inception in India; 1st Works of Wonder (WoW List) Architectural Digest USA, 2022. A woman led firm, its founder has been on India Today’s Top 100 Women Leaders of India
The practice focuses on conservation and museum projects across the country that includes the restoration of 15th Century temples in Ladakh and Hampi, historic mosques, palaces, forts and caravan sarais in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, planning for ancient Buddhist sites of Ajanta, Sarnath and Bodh Gaya, urban and regional conservation in Kancheepuram and Shekhawati and conserving colonial heritage in Delhi, Nainital and Mumbai.
For nearly three decades since the Heritage Regulations for Bombay in 1995, Abha has been involved with conserving many 19th Century Victorian landmarks and precincts. Some of her projects in Mumbai urban guidelines for Khotachiwadi and Dadabhai Naoroji Road and the restoration of Convocation Hall, Elphinstone College, Tata Palace (Deutche Bank), Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalay, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Sir JJ School of Art, Municipal Head Office and Crawford Market. She has advised on museum design for Indian Musuem Kolkata and Rashtapati Bhavan Museum Delhi, Prince of Wales and Mani Bhavan Mumbai, Bharatpur and Bangalore State Museums, Swaraj Bhavan and Anand Bhavan Allahabad and is currently working on the Nehru Memorial Library & Museum and the Lal Bagh Palace Museum in Indore for World Monuments Fund. Abha is a consultant to ICCROM, Global Heritage Fund and World Monuments Fund and has served on the heritage committees of both Delhi and Mumbai. Her practice has won 13 UNESCO Asia Pacific Awards for heritage conservation.
Award winning Projects include conservation of ancient temples in Ladakh (Maitreya Temple Basgo) and Hampi (Chandramauleshwar, Krishna Temple), palaces, forts and caravansarais in Rajasthan (Amer, Deeg, Wair Fort, Bharatpur), Hyderabad (Chowmahalla Palace), Madhya Pradesh (Lalbagh Palace Indore, Jaivilas Palace Gwalior), Maharashtra (Tata Palace, Shiveri Fort); Punjab (Quila Mubarak, Serai Doraha, Moorish Mosque, Bahadurgarh Fort), Shalimar Bagh Kashmir, urban conservation (Kancheepuram, Shekhawati, Jaipur, Vadnagar, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Srinagar, Mumba)i.
The firm advocates for culture, consultant to Global Heritage Fund, World Monuments Fund and governments on planning for Ajanta Caves, Bodh Gaya, Amer fort; Santiniketan, Corbusier’s Capitol Chandigarh - UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It has prepared UNESCO Nomination Dossiers for the historic sites of Sarnath, Mandu, Mughal Gardens of Kashmir, Mumbai’s Art Deco & Victorian ensembles, Creative City Lucknow and intangible heritage of Durga Puja, Patan and Nagaland.
Restoration and Adaptive Reuse projects include the adaptive reuse of Quila Mubarak, Punjab's oldest Sikh fort as a luxury hotel the Ran Baas The Palace; the conversion of a bus terminal at Bikaner House into a cultural oasis in Delhi and the restoration of India's oldest opera house, the Royal Opera House in Mumbai. In Shimla the firm adapted a disused fire-station at the Viceregal Lodge into a library café, seismically retrofitted Delhi’s first municipal school and created an international standard museum in Bharatpur palace, restoring Nehru Museums of Swaraj and Anand Bhavan Allahabad.a
Conservation projects include the restoration of Gateway of India, Asiatic Library, David Sassoon Library, University Convocation Hall, Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Elphinstone College, Tata Palace, Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya, Prince of Wales Museum, Sir JJ School of Art, Municipal Head Office, Crawford Market in Mumbai and Victoria Hall Chennai.