Vandhana Balachandran joined the Blackbird Team in March 2019. Originally from India, Vandhana received her Bachelor’s of Architecture from Anna University, Chennai. While working on master planning projects during an internship she found herself interested in urban design. This internship is ultimately what lead her to pursue a Master’s in Urban Design at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Before moving to Santa Barbara, she worked on urbanscapes and multi-family projects in Detroit.

Vandhana enjoys working on various scales of projects and is actively furthering her knowledge about sustainable design. She intends to incorporate sustainability as an essential part of her design process as she believes that architecture has a responsibility to sustainably serve the user and the environment. Vandhana enjoys creating designs that provide opportunities to connect with its context. She is excited to be a part of a collaborative and innovative team at Blackbird that strives to create impactful designs.

Outside of the office, she enjoys reading, running, kickboxing, or trying to learn an ocean-related skill. Vandhana also takes an interest in the activities of the local AIA Santa Barbara chapter and is a member of the Emerging Professionals group and the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) committee.