About us

We deliver architecture, but not as you know it

Our Approach

Uplifting Architecture – Down to earth architects

At Marra + Yeh, we love a challenge – we bring people together, illuminate a way forward and get things done. Design is our tool to simplify complexity and create new possibilities.

Together we challenge the status quo, provide alternative options and strive for maximum impact – we collectively examine all kinds of problems in novel and provocative ways to help our clients succeed.

Our approach blends Eastern sensibilities, European sophistication and Australian ingenuity with specific place histories, creating truly unique outcomes on every project.

Are you ready to collaborate with us, and bring new ideas to life?

Expertise Beyond Architecture
Insight Beyond Architecture
Impact Beyond Architecture

Our approach extends beyond the typical definitions of Sustainability and Architecture to address the most pressing challenges of our time, including:

  • Climate Change –mitigation, adaptation and resilience
  • Connecting with Country – collaborating with Indigenous peoples and leading Country-centric design approaches
  • Housing for everybody – including social, affordable, accessible, sustainable housing and bespoke homes

Together we create positive regenerative impacts for people and nature.

We work with:

  • Homeowners – creating beautiful ecological, adaptable and flexible homes
  • Housing providers, Community & Commercial developers – creating masterplans and housing strategies that incorporate diversity, appropriate density and sustainability
  • Government and public agencies – providing design review, strategic and technical advice
  • Arts & Creative organisations – crafting spaces for culture, making and exhibitions

We bring extensive knowledge and compelling insights gathered over 25+ years, including Carol’s Churchill Fellowship in 2009 – benefiting every project with an expansive and holistic perspective.

We actively research, write and share knowledge directly with our clients, for the benefit of our industry peers, colleagues, and the wider community.

We tackle some of society’s most challenging problems with design solutions that bring people back into harmony with nature.

People

Ken Yeh

Ken Yeh

Tutor and guest critic: University of Sydney
Bachelor of Architecture: The University of Texas at Austin, USA

Ken has been at the forefront of ecological architecture – addressing climate adaptation concerns from the micro to the macro level – for more than 25 years.

An early pioneer in the design of net zero and energy positive buildings, he accelerated the integration of new technologies across a range of typologies and scales – from major public works to individual homes – in Australia, Asia and the United States.

His Renaissance approach combines big picture and fine grain thinking simultaneously. Ken draws upon a myriad of experiences to generate unique opportunities and insights for our clients.

Behind his quiet and easy-going demeanour, Ken cultivates knowledge and expertise like a garden of rare specimens, with patience and care. A firm believer in the merits of a renaissance approach he delves into diverse subjects and topics that inspire his Architecture. His unquenchable curiosity of the world drives him to seek inspiration in multiple fields of study and to approach complex problems with a fearless attitude, confident that his quest will yield solutions appropriate to place, environment and people.

Ken’s delight for speed and motion translates to his work, propelling challenging projects forward with an overall strategic vision, where every project is both a serious undertaking and an adventure. He sweats the details and lavishes attention on the tactile experience, where the building greets the person. In 2021, Ken was named as one of the top 9 Malaysian architects by Culture Trip.

Teaching

The University of Sydney, Masters and Bachelors programs

AusIndoArch Yogyakarta, bamboo workshop

University of Montpelier, Le Reunion, bamboo workshop

Invited design review critic:
University of Washington, The University of Sydney, UNSW, University of Newcastle, University Malaya

Carrol Marra

Carol Marra

Registered Architect/Nominated Architect [NSW 7996 & USA]
Tutor and guest critic: University of Sydney & UNSW
Bachelor of Architecture: The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Churchill Fellow

Carol is one of Australia’s pre-eminent climate change-ready architects with a global reputation for her research, leadership and innovative design approach. In 2009, she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel to Japan, China and the Philippines to examine the impact of climate change on buildings.

She has more than 25 years of experience in private practice and government advisory roles, and has worked across various locations and scales, from the Americas to Asia and Australia, and from family homes to the development of entire precincts.

Carol’s deep and varied expertise includes: sensitive masterplanned communities in urban and regional locations, high-rise housing, public works, aged care, heritage adaptive reuse and custom homes.

Carol brings a Pascalian clarity to the process by setting an overall strategy at the start of each project, clearly defining cultural, environmental and personal goals for each client. In the pursuit of simplicity, she guides the project with attention to detail and craftsmanship, giving purpose to the rituals and interplay of human and natural systems.

Carol also provides design review and advice to public projects through various government agencies. For several years she was engaged as Principal Design Advisor at the Government Architect NSW, chairing the State Design Review Panel and contributing at a strategic level to State Significant projects and policies.

“For me the ideal environment would include a garden, a library and a tearoom. In the garden we grow things, are physically nourished and delighted by nature. A garden is a cultural interpretation of nature, it requires an orderly approach but also the knowledge that fundamentally nature cannot be controlled. In the library the imagination runs free and the mind is honed, it’s a place of intellectual rigour and contemplation. The tearoom is about ritual, intricacy of detail and taking pleasure in small things. Architecture is the method of inquiry, the process of resolution and the manifestation of a physical reality.” 

Samantha Rich

Samantha Rich

Masters of Architecture, UNSW
ARB Graduate Architecture Medallion 2022
Yuwaya Ngarrali Adjunct Professor since 2022

Samantha is a Wiradjuri woman and a Graduate of Architecture, dedicated to embedding First Nations worldviews into the design of buildings and the broader built environment.

Working across diverse typologies – including health, housing, urban design, commercial, infrastructure and Designing for Country – Sam has refined her skills to create culturally sensitive designs that engage authentically with First Nations communities.
She is deeply interested in the intersections of social and cultural factors that provide breadth and depth to design outcomes, to ensure they are uniquely embedded in the characteristics and story of place.

Jordan Bamford

Jordan Bamford

Masters of Architecture, UTS
Masters of Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences, TU Delft

Jordan has experience working on large-scale commercial projects in Adelaide and Sydney in addition to his background in photography and set design. As a student, he was the team lead for UTS’ winning entry (Housing Division) to the US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon® in 2021, and also a team member of the Regional Bureaucracy publication in 2022. 

Jordan spent time travelling and volunteering on small built projects in the Middle East, Northern Africa, Turkey and Europe, and he enjoys drawing inspiration from global vernacular buildings.

Recognition

2023

Sustainability Awards, Dempsey Warehouse – Winner highly-commended

ArchitectureAU Award for Social Impact, Dempsey Warehouse – Shortlist

ArchitectureAU Award for Social Impact, Shelter@Rainforest – Shortlist

2022

Alastair Swayn Foundation Design Strategy Grant

2021

ArchDaily Building of the Year, Sky House – Finalist

2020

Sustainability Awards, Sky House – Finalist

Habitus House of the Year, Sky House – Finalist

2016

Sustainability Awards, Abbotsford House – Finalist

2014

RAIA National Architecture Awards, Shelter@Rainforest – Award for International Architecture

RAIA International Architecture Awards, Shelter@Rainforest – Award for Small Project Architecture

2013

Barbara Cappochin International Prize (Italy), Shelter@Rainforest – Shortlist ’40 best projects’

2012

AR House Commendation Award, Shelter@Rainforest (UK)

WAN 21 For 21 Longlist (UK)

2009

Winston Churchill Fellowship – Climate adaptation in architecture

2024

Keynote Speaker ‘People & Community’ – Regional Development Australia Orana – Inland Growth Summit, Dubbo

2023

Climate Adaptation with Indigenous Knowledge – UIA World Congress of Architecture, Copenhagen

Design for Inclusivity, Session Chair – UIA World Congress of Architecture, Copenhagen

Architecture for an uncertain future – General Management Group, Sydney

2022

AIA EmAGN NSW – Generation Exchange

2021

Practice & Projects – University of Pennsylvania

2020

The Education of an Architect – Taylor University

Shelter@Rainforest – University of Portsmouth

Sustainable House Day – North Sydney Council

Practice & Projects – University of Buenos Aires

2019

Sustainable Materials – The University of Sydney

2018

Climate Adaptive Architecture – The University of Sydney

2017

Holistic Sustainability – The University of Buenos Aires

2016

Architecture Asia-Pacific Symposium – Brisbane

2014

Tropical Architecture – AusIndoArch Conference, Darwin

Architecture & Money – Architecture on Show Series, Sydney

2013

Architecture & Light – Architecture on Show Series, Sydney

Placemaking in Australia & the Asia Pacific – Sydney Indesign

Architecture & Ecology – Architecture on Show Series, Sydney

Timber Details and Experiences – Malaysian Timber Council, Kuala Lumpur

2012

Building with Wood: Technique & Technology – Malaysian Timber Council, Kuala Lumpur

Shelter@Rainforest – London

Climate Adaptive Architecture – Churchill Fellows Association NSW

2011

Climate Adaptation for Architecture & Urban Environments – The City of Sydney Council

Time for Timber: Culture, Craft & Creation – Malaysian Timber Council, Kuala Lumpur

Environmentally Responsive Architecture – NSW Government Architect’s Office

Climate-adaptive Architecture: lessons from Asia-Pacific – The University of Western Sydney

2009

Architecture & Globalisation – University of Sydney, Australia

Glocalization: the making of architecture across cultures, places and people – Australian Institute of Architects ACT Chapter, Canberra

2007

Engagement & Delight in Architecture – The University of Sydney

2005

Economics of Heritage Preservation – Perak Heritage Society, Malaysia