ARCHITECTURE . PLANNING . BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
STARQ Design inc. brings 30 years of multidisciplinary design craft, technical knowledge, and building construction experience through innovative projects all around the world.
Our practice coalesces influences from cultural diversity in design, experiential qualities, and deep knowledge of materials and building construction.
Our partnership builds upon sensibilities that are committed to elevating the human experience, sustainable design, and impacting lives in positive ways.
We have the ability to harness our 30 years of experience and a diverse portfolio to bring lasting value to our clients.
We are a certified WBE by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and a certified SBE/DBE by the California Unified Certification Program (CUCP).
Sharmila Tankha, AIA Founding Principal,
Architecture | Design Practice Leader
Sharmila is the Founding Principal of STARQ inc., and brings 30 years of experience in Hospitality, Retail, and Community design.
Instilling her work with deep-seated values culled from Hospitality design, Sharmila constantly pushes the envelope between typologies to design human-centric, experience-driven, and nurturing buildings, places, and communities that withstand the test of time. Her work spans a spectrum of scales from smaller Interiors to multifamily and hotels to large master plans in California and various International locations.
Sharmila completed her Master’s in Building Science from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India in 1990.
She is a licensed architect in California.
Sanjeev Tankha, AIA Principal
Building Technology | Facades Practice Leader
Sanjeev brings 28 years of experience in design integration of innovative and advanced building technology with a focus in Facades and specialty structures.
Sanjeev has led the design and construction of the facades and specialty systems for several large aviation, sports, and commercial projects in the US and around the world. Sanjeev is recognized as a Subject matter expert and has lectured in national and international conferences about building technology and facades. Sanjeev is also a guest lecturer at Sci Arch and USC on building technology and facades.
Sanjeev has a Masters degree in Building Science from the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India in 1990.
He is a licensed architect in the state of California.
Chinmai Shimpi
Junior Designer
Chinmai joined the Starq team in 2022 as a Junior Designer, bringing her technical knowledge and creative spark to support both the Façade and Architecture practices. She is passionate about facades and brings skills in software platforms to develop buildings and systems visualization, design and detailing. She also performs technical environmental analysis of façade assemblies that drive the rationale of our design work.
Prior to Starq, Chinmai worked at the USC Facilities Planning and Management Department as a Support Assistant while pursuing her Graduate Studies at the University. She also interned in Mumbai and got to work in both Architecture and Interior Design of various commercial and residential projects in India.
Chinmai has a Master’s Degree in Building Science from the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture, Los Angeles and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from IES College of Architecture, Mumbai.