A water fountain. A church. A synagogue. A library. These landmarks echoed the diversity and celebrated the vision of its heritage keepers — all Mumbai-based — who bagged top honours in Penang on Monday at the UNESCO Asia Pacific Region Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2019. Fifty-seven entries were submitted from 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region including Australia, China, India and New Zealand.

Mumbai's Brinda Somaya (SNK Consultants) bagged the Award of Distinction for her restoration of the Vikram Sarabhai Library, IIM, Ahmedabad. This, the citation mentioned, heralds an important step forward in the preservation of 20th century architecture in India. Somaya's vision ensured that Louis Kahn's design of the library was rehabilitated from a state of extensive material dilapidation by using exhaustive research and modeling. Abha Narain Lambah, who's restored the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Kala Ghoda, won an Award of Merit. She told mid-day, "This not only recognises that the restoration work was of the highest technical standards but also demonstrated the spirit of multiculturalism that Mumbai has always stood for, with non Jewish corporates and citizens associations coming together to save and revive a cultural landmark of the minority Jewish community."