M Designs Architects

We did two projects with Malika and are very happy with the final results! She has a great eye and imagination for how to design a beautiful living space.

We have seen and been a part of some of the beautiful work that Malika, Chip and the team at M Designs do. They are able to work with a variety of different types of projects, styles and designs. Their backgrounds and portfolio of completed homes speaks for itself.

I know Malika and Chip for years now, and have toured several of their projects. As a designer with the eye for details, I see the quality, and their projects are outstanding! Unique one of a kind and personalized to fit the taste and needs of the family. They listen and provide a project that works for the home owner. Beautiful work. Very talented.

We recently purchased a SFR in Sunnyvale’s CherryTree neighborhood. We loved many aspects of the house, but we also knew that we wanted to make some changes to make it our own.
Well, easier said than done. We interviewed multiple structural engineers /​architects /​interior designers, and we always felt something was lacking, and that we didn’t quite connect with them.
And then, I found M Designs on Unilocal.First meeting with Malika at the house, and we instantly connected with her. She instantly pointed out suggestions that we were already thinking about, and then went well beyond those with aspects we hadn’t considered. Specifically, here are some things that we would never have without Malika’s help:
1. Converting a small office + laundry area downstairs into a second Master suite, with a Patio door to the backyard
2. A wonderful, ~300 sft Master Bath + WIC for the Master bedroom, with vaulted ceilings, skylights, heated floors, and a jacuzzi
3. Lots of great suggestions on design /​colors /​materials for the rest of the remodel
Malika’s obviously got great design sense. But there’s more to her and the way she worked with us that we really appreciated:
1. She got the core design done in a timeframe that most other design firms couldn’t even consider matching (it was less than 2 weeks for us, and a lot of that was time on our end to get the drawings for the house, with other firms talking about months)
2. She considers architectural implications, structural implications, cost implications and city regulations while working. That saved us a lot of time because there were no surprises down the road.
3. Finally, she really cared about who we were, and how we would live in the house, and what ideas best made sense in that context.
The best part: I never thought I could afford someone who added as much to the remodel as Malika did! Having her lead the design was the single most important decision in our remodel, and we think we got an amazing value for what she delivered.
Bottom line: If you are considering a small or large remodel, and could use some expert help on design or architecture or guidelines, you should at least interview M Designs. From our experience, your search should end there.

Spectacular designs, exceptional attention to detail, and great customer service is what you will get from the team at M Designs Architects.
Malika and Chip are simply the best. Their body of work demonstrates their ability to deliver many different styles unique to each client. I highly recommend M Designs for your next project.

Had a good friend who needed ideas & wanted changes… Enter… M Designs they came in GREAT ideas & Affordable Choices scoring a home run with him.
If your building or remodeling, I would call M Designs first!

You probably know about M Designs because they create beautiful design. Malika stands out for me because she is a master of designing around her clients’ lifestyles. This means she helps her clients figure out if what they’re asking for will enhance rather than detract and distract from how they actually live their lives.

Both Chip and Malika are great Architects. They give their clients great design ideas and their final designs are vary detailed and flawless. I have worked with other designers which are also good, but M-​Designs are a step ahead of other designers. It is also important to know that they are licensed architects not just a designer. We have already referred them to some of our friends.

One of the best architects in the area. Incredibly well designed homes with distinctive flair that’s just right. In addition to expertise in architecture, she ad her team have extensive knowledge of build codes and requirements to ensure a smooth process through planning.

Is there an extra credit star available? If so Malika and her design team deserve it.
As a business owner who is in their clients home I often get asked for referrals for my clients. I get asked for plumbers and electricians and window washers and painters.
But I guess I was in the right place at the right time when I heard my client say they wanted to remodel their home to make it functional. To late for a short story but after I referred her to M Designs architects I felt confident they were in good hands. I knew this because I clean carpets for M Designs and saw firsthand the work they were capable of. They transformed their home not only into a functional living space but they brought it up to date in style as well. Now it’s a work of art. I have heard that they are award winning in their field and green certified but in the end it’s most important that the clients are happy. They are. That made me look good for referring them.
Win Win and Win.
G.T.

We loved working with Malika and Chip to create our redesigned home. They are extremely creative and really think differently. We love the use of space and design elements they used to create a unique and functional home for us. They are very talented and great people to work with. They listened to our needs and wants and came back with much more. We love our «new» home and would recommend Chip and Malika to anyone wanting creative architects.

We have done one addition and now, three years later, a major remodeling of our entire living space with M Design. In either case, we have been truly satisfied by both the outcome of the projects and our interaction with Malika and Chip. It has been a very effective and creative collaboration: they listened carefully to our ideas, understood our needs, including budget constraints, and gave us the necessary advice and direction. At the end, they were able to translate our desires into a very nice and functional design that we are especially pleased with.

I have know Chip and Malika for several years now. I am a general contractor who specializes in energy efficient, non toxic and comfortable homes. I rated Malika’s home for Green Point Rating a year or so ago and they did a great job on her home and were new to green building at that point. They have come a long way in thinking about ways to make their homes less toxic, more comfortable and more cost effective to build, maintain and live in, while still maintaining the wonderful aesthetic for which they are well known.
My company has only done one job with Chip and Malika, where they were the architects, and they did a great job. The house won the Environmental building award for the city of Menlo park in 2011 and will be the 5^th greenest home in the state of California. They were on top of all the details for the home and really eager to see the project succeed. The clients loved them and project turned out great.
Besides everything else, they are really nice people.

Malika and Chip are very talented and creative people. They listen to the clients wants and needs, and always proceed with knowledge, expertise and integrity. They are well known and respected by the different planning departments. I always recommend M Designs with confidence!

When remodelling a home you are faced with an incredible number of design choices. I was very clear about wanting a modern streamlined look for our home, but I had no idea how to go about achieving it. Luckily, I met Malika (I only wish I had met her earlier!), just as we were about to start with our remodel. Since we already had our plans in place, I needed her help with the interior and exterior ‘look’ of the home. She transformed the house completely from what it had been drawn up by making just a few tweaks here and there. Though the changes seemed subtle, the transformation was radical.
Malika has lots of great ideas that not only look great but are practical. She understands that everyone is on a budget and suggests ways to save money. She is never pushy with her suggestions, and would always be respectful if either me or my husband had reservations about going in a certain direction. You don’t have to go to San Francisco if you want a modern architect. We have one of the best and brightest right here in the Bay!

M Designs helped us add-​on to our Eichler without blowing the architectural integrity of our home. They gave us several ideas to choose from, all interesting, and we opted for the one that really kept our home exactly within the Eichler aesthetic. We wanted that, but we also felt it was important for our neighborhood. In our view, you can go off the reservation quite a bit with ranch houses, but with Eichlers you really need to keep design standards homogeneous. M Designs «gets it» though they didn’t force that on us — it is what we believe.
Because our addition was classified practically like building a new house in Sunnyvale, we/​they were faced with a great deal of code issues that impacted design, making it hard to add-​on to the house «the right way:» In fact, Sunnyvale suggested changing the plans such that we could have built a monstrosity to meet the new codes in order to have the additional square footage classified as part of the house as opposed to an «out building» which would mean we couldn’t sell our house — if we ever do — as the larger house it now is.
M Designs really helped us by pushing the City of Sunnyvale for us though we did have to make it VERY clear we were not going to settle for an «out building» permit. They went to bat for us with the City and prevailed. Sunnyvale really needs an architectural review committee. Of course, all you have to do is drive around the City to see that. I think the City is coming to that realization as well. Yay!
Sorry to digress. Regarding budget issues, we didn’t have any with M Designs.
They also gave us a selection of contractors to talk to and obtain bids from. We were satisfied with their suggestions and the contractor we chose was great. We appreciated that they could screen contractors for us, since we moved here from NYC and didn’t have anyone to talk to about referrals.
We have found any sort of home remodeling project to be a challenge. However, we would not hesitate to work with M Designs again.

We had great success using M Designs for our first floor remodel as well as our master bath. The designs were innovative and fit the vision we had for our home.
They provided many options for us to choose from so we didn’t feel locked into to just one design. When we asked for modifications they were done promptly and completely on target with what we discussed.
M Design also provided fantastic guidance as to what resources we should use to get the best quality and price on materials.
They were on time and on budget each time we have worked with them.
They are not inexpensive, but you certainly get what you pay for. We consider them a great resource!

Having had some luck with «design build» on a spec house, we gave a local well known design build firm the nod. $ 18,000 later they provided us a «concept» that neither met our needs, blew our budget and was bad design.
We then turned to M Design and were completely satisfied. The Principals met with us several times to define our needs and styles, and developed great plans. The project was guided through planning and there was great project support throughout. Chip was always accessible when «things» happened and the rebuild was a huge success.
We constantly get «oohs and aahs» when we entertain and love the space and style that M Design conceived of.

We did a facelift to our home in Menlo Park. We were extremely impressed with M. Designs and Malika in particular. She has a wonderful vision of what the home should look like and was full of great ideas. She recommended a contractor who stayed on budget and was on time. During the planning stages they spent a lot of time with us blending our ideas with theirs. The conceptual drawings are amazing.
Malika is very good at getting the plans approved with the city, this is not a simple task!!!
We are very proud of how our home looks today and would definitely recommend them

Blew their budget, then refused to discuss the bill with us until we withheld payment. Bad-​mouthed us to potential contractors and held our plans hostage, while hiding behind «we’re professionals».
Didn’t understand the limitations of their own contract — for example the arbitration clause specified what turned out to be a nonexistent conflict resolution organization. The contract was explicitly on a «not to exceed» budget, but they tried to charge us extra for stuff that was explicitly included in the contract, and did not preauthorize or even note any overruns. Hardball distributive negotiators. Be very careful.
I will say that they did help us to get our work though the city faster, but left many problems as an exercise for the contractor. Structural insight could have been better. If we ever do this again, I am going to go with a structural engineer instead.