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
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.
Profile
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
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.
Profile
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
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
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
Awards
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
Talks
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
