Our approach

Commercial value is decided early.

Most developments are designed to pass planning and priced to cost. Few are designed for the buyer, tenant or guest who will pay for them. Our approach puts the market and the margin into every decision, from the first layout to the first viewing and guest experience.

The problem

Everyone manages cost and planning risk.
Demand risk usually has no owner.

Misaligned

The scheme is designed for no one in particular. Buyers are choosier than ever, and a home that is not an easy yes sits on the market.

Overloaded

Finance, planning, build and sales all compete for your attention
Design decisions get rushed or left too late, when they cost the most to change.

Exposed

Cost risk and planning risk are well managed. Demand risk, the one that decides whether the scheme sells, usually has no owner.

Rooftop view of Number Eighty, Brighton, with zinc mansard roofs — Number Eighty, Brighton

How we work

Strategy

We start with the numbers and your target market: who is buying, renting or staying in your area, what they will pay a premium for, and the GDV, yield or ADR your scheme needs to deliver.

Layout

Space planning shaped around how your buyer, tenant or guest actually lives and moves, improving net-to-gross, key count and flow so every square foot earns its price.

Story

A concept with a clear identity, and visuals that let buyers, guests, agents and funders see the finished space before it exists.

Detail

Design development drawings and specifications that justify your price point or nightly rate without overspending, built to last and easy to maintain.

FF&E

Furniture, fixtures and equipment specified to the buyer or guest, the budget and the way the space will be used and experienced.

Visualisation

CGIs that sell a lifestyle, not a render. Buyers and guests see themselves in the space, so you can market, fund and sell or pre-book the scheme before it is built.

Procurement

Sourcing and ordering managed against the build programme and your completion or opening date, so the design arrives on site on time and on budget.

Marketing

Branding, brochures and launch materials built on the same story and concept as the design, so every touchpoint sells one clear vision at the price you are asking.

Style

Staging and styling that turn viewings into early offers, and guests into five-star reviews, repeat stays and referrals.

The outcome

An easy yes at every touch point

Designed for a real buyer, tenant or guest, the scheme answers the objections before they are raised, emotional or financial. The yes comes easier and sooner, at a price that holds.

Protected GDV, yield and ADR

Layout and specification decisions made while they still change the result, whether the return comes from a sale, a rent or a room rate.

Clarity and less pressure

One partner holding the whole interior journey together, from first layout to marketing and staging, so you are not managing three or four consultants.

Bayham Street, London.

Six units, sold out before completion at £1m profit.

A partner invested in your return

“Having worked with a number of interior designers on our portfolio, I can confidently say that Mar Design's ability to handle a design brief is second to none. Raquel and the team expertly took our ideas and used her creativity to produce a concept, along with a comprehensive detailed drawing package and specifications. This allowed us to visualise our concept and effectively communicate it to our build team. Mar Design's attention to detail in these packages ensured that we encountered very few issues during the builds she was involved with. Their technical background and experience clearly give her the edge, making the design and implementation process hassle-free for us as investors. Mar Design has genuinely added significant value to our portfolio with her designs, and I can't recommend them highly enough.”

Rob Hodge, Maygreen Group

Raquel Aparicio, founder of Mar Design, seated on a stool

Between projects

The Advisory

Not every scheme needs a full design engagement. Some need a senior commercial eye on the decisions that decide the return. The Advisory is a monthly retainer that puts an experienced second view across every significant decision, before those decisions are expensive to change. It protects the whole return, and it is limited to five developers at a time, so every client gets senior attention.

Explore The Advisory

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