We’re delighted that you’re considering working with Marra+Yeh, and we’re keen to show you how we can collaborate to design and create your new home, one that will serve your needs now and well into the future.
Designing a new home is both complex and exciting, so what’s it like to work with us?
- We begin by asking questions, before we propose solutions
- We question your assumptions, to discover options you are not aware of
- We manage the whole process from start to finish
- We bring design, technical and management skills to your project
- We discuss money early and often, so you understand the budget impacts of your requirements
- We engage with you in a dialogue, and explain the solutions we propose
- We clarify why one solution may be better than another
- We know how to speak to Councils and guide you through the process of getting your project approved
- We bring a whole team of builders, tradesmen, craftsmen and consultants to deliver your project to our high standards on site
- We speak in plain language and don’t bamboozle you with fancy words
- We guide you along the entire process, giving you knowledge and confidence to make decisions along the way
- We don’t shy away from difficult challenges
- We take our work seriously –– but make the process enjoyable and exciting for you
The M+Y Journey begins and ends with you.
You know the most about yourself, your ambitions, your problems, your needs and your wants. Before we draw anything or come up with any ideas, we need to engage with you in dialogue. The first step in designing a new home is a targeted investigation of your current circumstances, your existing building or site, the legal and regulatory framework that governs what’s possible. Without these answers we’re both flying blind.
We ask the right questions upfront, and together we set the project strategy – a roadmap to get going in the right direction.
Design Design Design
Design is the beginning, the middle and the end of your project. Design is where we excel and where together we must concentrate the bulk of our efforts. Design is a method, a process and an outcome.
Design method is how we interrogate your present circumstances, understand what changes you require, question assumptions, explore options, anticipate roadblocks and gain clarity. The design method allows you to understand the big picture.
Design process is how we narrow down all of the available options and possibilities to meet your requirements. We can test each option on paper so you can make decisions with knowledge and confidence. As the saying goes, paper is cheaper than stone. The design process ensures you’re across all the details of your project.
Method + Process = Design Outcome. The equation is that simple, but without a clear method and a comprehensive process you will not get a great outcome. The design outcome brings together all the complexity of the project, all the decisions we have guided you to make, and the resolution of conflicting demands into a unified vision. That’s how you get a grand design and not a grand disaster. When you work with us, expect to be an active participant in all aspects of designing your new home.
Money
We appreciate that you will be investing a large chunk of cash in your project, designing a new home is possibly the most expensive thing you’ll ever purchase. We want to make sure you get the most bang for your buck, and an outcome that surprises and delights you every day. In the M+Y Money Matters advisory note you can find a set of guidelines to help you understand project costs and set your budget.
In addition to upfront costs, you need to consider the cost of using your building over its lifetime. We have 10 years’ worth of data to demonstrate our buildings will reduce your carbon footprint and save you money on utility bills over time.
Time
Time is money. If you save time at the beginning, you will inevitably need to spend more money later. Remember paper is cheaper than stone, and design is a complex undertaking. We make sure you are not rushed into making poor decisions that will add to the cost of your project. Every aspect of the design is given enough time to be evaluated and decided on. This way construction can proceed without delays, saving you money on site.
Approvals
We have worked internationally, across NSW and metropolitan Sydney with some notoriously difficult councils – Blue Mountains, City of Sydney, Inner West, Northern Beaches, Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick, Ryde, Willoughby.
We have worked on heritage buildings, heritage conservation areas and environmentally sensitive areas. We have – in every single instance! – successfully gained approval for our clients’ projects. Through our in-depth understanding of planning and regulations, including experience working in the NSW Department of Planning, we help you navigate the quagmire.
Quality
We work with a select group of builders, tradespeople and craftsmen, all of whom understand our way of working and can deliver the high quality results we require when designing a new home. When you work with us, we bring you the whole team. You will not need to worry about dodgy builders or unreliable tradesmen. Instead you will have a trained team who work in close collaboration with you to deliver your project.
Joy
Function and beauty go together. Architecture is a practical art, not the type you hang on a wall. We know beauty is the ultimate goal but to get there we must work through all the functional aspects. We use our design skills to integrate technical requirements, sustainability, materials and finishes to create places that are both functional and beautiful.
Browse our projects to see the results we achieve.
What our past clients say about working with M+Y
Thanks to you and the team for your patience and effort in working all this through.
Seriously, it is a life enhancing experience to live here, and energy giving. I don’t know how you guys create something so highly functional and attractive at the same time and I will forever be thankful to the team for getting this done in the time frame and given the difficulties of a poorly planned project (on my part).
Thank you all
Margie
Thanks so much for your amazing vision and bringing together an incredible team to bring the outdoors into our home. You had not only the clarity of vision but throughout all the ups and downs of the process you’ve been a rock and taken us on an amazing journey.
Janet & Mick – Sky House
I just wanted to say how happy we are about the house, your design is really beautiful and I’m so excited about it. You are so gifted and I keep pinching myself that it’s all really happening! I really wish my mother and father were around to see it. We first came to see you when we hadn’t even sold my family home and it was incredibly painful even thinking of losing it after just losing my father as well, so I wanted to have something else to take us in another direction away from all that was going on there.
The people that bought my family home have changed the house incredibly, pulling it apart and yes they have rendered it and destroyed a lot of my mother’s garden (a 60 year old camellia was pulled out ). Watching our own house grow and change over these last months has really counteracted this and I will be so proud to have my family there.
I love the fact that you can see the trees in the park from our house now, that your design really interacts with those trees. When my father bought the land for his home, the council asked all the land owners in that area to gift a parcel of land towards creating the reserve / park. Those trees were there when I played there as a child and my own children played there too. There is a story in everyone’s home I’m sure but I’m grateful for your gift in allowing our house’s story to turn a new page. Thank you.
Belinda – Breuer House
