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Publications

Dwell Magazine - Kado Kubu Residence - A Pink Pool in the Sky Buoys...

Business Insider - Virgil Village ADU - With a budget of $100,000, two...

HAM

We are not clean white box designers. We like to get a little messy. We create things that wiggle, shift, float, reverse, stand upside down, and give a little wink. HAM Design Group began in 2019 with a funky little ADU in Los Angeles’ Virgil Village and has since expanded to include work in Bali, New York, and the Caribbean.  

Services:
Architecture and Interiors for Residential, Commercial and Hospitality. Specializing in Hillside Projects, High Fire Severity Zone, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's) and Permitting 

the Team

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Keith Marks
Founding Partner, Design Director
Keith Marks is a Founding Partner of HAM Design Group and is the Studio Director for the Bali office. Prior to the practice’s launch, Keith was associate director at 64North, project designer at HOK and senior/lead designer at EC3. He also held creative design positions at MEIS architects, Rossetti and Gensler.

Throughout his career, Keith has discovered unexpected design in a wide range of typologies, including but not limited to residential, hospitality, stadiums, high-rises, adaptive reuse, education, tech and even mobile playgrounds in Bolivia. Buffalo-born, his work can be seen from China, Australia and Rome to New York, Los Angeles and Seattle. Keith stays involved in the discourse by occasionally teaching architecture at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture), Woodbury University and Lawrence Technological University—two of them alma maters. Keith graduated from Lawrence Tech with distinction with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Bachelor of Interior Architecture. Upon receiving his Master of Architecture with distinction from SCI-Arc, Keith received the Gehry Prize, Henry Adams Medal and Alpha Rho Chi Medal.

Keith and his wife, travel and design journalist Kathryn Romeyn, along with their daughter, Indah, live in Bali, while frequently traveling to many other destinations.
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Corie Saxman, RA
Founding Partner, Principal Architect
Corie Saxman is a Founding Partner of HAM Design Group and is the Studio Director for the Los Angeles office. Corie brings with her a wealth of experience with project management and design on projects such as residential, commercial offices, multi-family and cultural centers.
 
Previously, Corie has held creative positions including project manager and design lead at BA Collective (Formerly Belzberg Architects), architectural designer at P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S Architects, and designer and production artist at Ball-Nouges Studios. Drawing from her diverse professional experiences, Corie has developed a unique way of approaching design and problem solving, resulting in notable projects ranging from an explorative pavilion featured at Coachella Music Festival 2015 to the global headquarters and exhibition space of USC Shoah Foundation. She received her undergraduate degree at Texas A&M, graduating cum laude, and subsequently received her Master of Architecture from SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture).

Corie and her husband live in Venice, California, and spend their free time traveling and camping.
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Melissa Yip, CID, NCIDQ
Interior Designer
Melissa Yip is an interior designer with a diverse portfolio spanning commercial and residential projects, from start-up aviation tech companies to garage ADUs in Los Angeles. With experience in both architecture and interiors, she has worked on a range of residential projects, from studio ADUs to large single-family homes, as well as dynamic tenant improvements and culturally driven hospitality concepts.

Previously, Melissa held an interior design role at BA Collective (Formerly Belzberg Architects) and Nwankpa Design, a Black, female-owned architecture and interiors firm inspired by West African influences, where she contributed to projects that highlighted diverse narratives and equitable design solutions. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from California State University, Long Beach, and is a certified interior designer (CID, NCIDQ).

As part of HAM Design Group, Melissa brings a thoughtful, tactile approach to each project, balancing functionality with design storytelling. In her spare time, she is growing a small local Asian fusion microbakery, blending Vietnamese and Japanese influences to indulge her love for curation, food, and culture.