elder street
approved
special project unlock
maarch
is the advisory wing of maarch
Architects. We clarify the approval pathway for complex sites in Western Australia, turning constraints into a design-ready foundation for confident project development.
What We Do: maarch
× planning expertise × commercial intelligence = maarch
proof of work
champion road
approved
valencia
built
project unlock
We unlock development potential in difficult sites that
others walk away from.
de-risk
Planning, bushfire, approvals, stakeholder complexity- the things stopping a viable project from moving.
EXPONENTIAL VALUE
The right specialists working together multiply the outcome. That is what the 
means.
We understand
how approval works
Our approvals work began when existing clients came to maarch Architects for help with challenging development applications, and we have since secured approvals where earlier attempts by other firms fell short. What we learned is that well-resourced, well-advised projects rarely drift because of the people. They drift because of the sequence: feasibility treated as a formality, design started before the risks are understood, and the authority's feedback discovered at month nine instead of anticipated at week three. maarch changes the order. Planning and commercial specialists work alongside our design team from the start, so the risks are named early, the optimised yield is found rather than the safe one, and what we learned at feasibility survives intact through to the permit. Decades of experience in architecture and construction sit behind every step.
The problem
The conventional route manages a difficult project.
It does not unlock it.
Complex sites, hostile planning environments, bushfire flame zones, heritage overlays and tight urban infill need more than a competent consultant. They need design intelligence to see the opportunity, planning expertise to unlock it, and commercial intelligence to de-risk it before money is committed to design.
The usual sequence of feasibility, then architect, then planner, then redesign is structurally slow. Each step is briefed separately, and the feedback that matters arrives months too late. maarch
brings all three disciplines to the project from the first conversation.
"Project unlock. De-risk. Multiply. The right people working together multiply the outcome."
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0.1 See the opportunity others miss.
Before any architecture exists, we read the site deeply: indicative yield and massing, a constraints scan, an approval risk flag covering the discretions, referral triggers and precedents most likely to shape your application, and an honest go/no-go.
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0.2 Remove the roadblocks.
Before any architecture exists, we read the site deeply: indicative yield and massing, a constraints scan, an approval risk flag covering the discretions, referral triggers and precedents most likely to shape your application, and an honest go/no-go.
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0.3 Compound value through the right team.
We combine design intelligence with the planning and commercial specialists your project needs [named where agreed], working from one shared strategy rather than separate briefs.
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0.4 A foundation every architect can build from.
A concept masterplan carrying the optimised yield and the agreed approval strategy. A staged approvals roadmap. A complete handoff-ready brief, from feasibility through strategy to design intent. Good design, elevated, with less rework and wasted expense.
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4Why
Design intelligence. Planning expertise. Commercial intelligence. Working together as one.
maarch combines design, planning expertise and commercial rigour to turn complex or stalled developments into viable, approved and deliverable outcomes.
Already have a DA submission? We can step in at any stage.
We review and redesign existing submissions to meet approval requirements, reducing unnecessary cost and rework.
maarch
x planning expertise x commercial intelligence = maarch
The right people working together multiply the outcome.
Ask yourself
If you cannot answer yes to most of these,
the conventional route is costing you.
- Before design began, did anyone give you a written read of the approval risk: the specific discretions, precedents and referral triggers?
- Has most of your consultant spend so far produced a decision or an approved outcome, rather than activity?
- Do you know exactly what a six-month slip in approvals would cost you, and has anyone modelled it?
- Were most of the authority's comments on your last application genuinely unforeseeable, rather than things a planning specialist would have flagged at feasibility?
- Were several configurations of your site tested before the design brief was written?
- If you asked your feasibility adviser and your architect the same question today, would you get the same answer?
- The last time you changed consultants, did the outcome change?
Case studies
The Ice Pick, Elder Street, Perth CBD
- OPPORTUNITY
- A 120m² site in Perth's Parliamentary Precinct, above a live Western Power transformer room running since 1960. The brief: a coffee shop, open-plan office, public fountain and viewing platform.
- CONSTRAINT
- On paper, no clear approval pathway. Most people looked at it and moved on. They said it had a snowball's chance in hell.
- UNLOCK
- Ben Carter of Pinnacle Planning [confirm permission to name] found the approval pathway that actually exists and built the argument that made approval possible: specific and defensible. The design then worked around live high-voltage infrastructure without touching it.
- OUTCOME
- Completed in 2022 and standing today. Its 115 custom glazing panels won the Australian Glass and Window Association Bespoke Window Project Award in 2022, presented to Cooling Brothers, who fabricated and installed them
Champion Road Aged Care, Lesmurdie
- OPPORTUNITY
- An 81-bed residential aged care facility (about $24M) for Roshana Care Group at 20 Champion Road, Lesmurdie, beside its existing Sunshine Park village. [Confirm bed count.]
- CONSTRAINT
- Bushfire requirements for a vulnerable occupancy, under the current NCC and State bushfire framework, threatened to make the project both hard to approve and hard to build.
- UNLOCK
- Rather than redesign around the constraint, maarch investigated an applicant-funded reserve management partnership with the City of Kalamunda, managing fuel in the adjacent reserve strip as part of the bushfire solution. [Confirm this was part of the approved solution.]
- OUTCOME
- Approved by the Western Australian Planning Commission in November 2025. [Add construction status when known.]
Three stages. Three gates. You are never committed to more than the stage you are in.
Fees are fixed for each engagement and confirmed after a short qualification call, because the correct fee depends on your site, your jurisdiction and your problem. They are deliberately not published here.
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Stage 1
Feasibility Entry
(1–2 weeks)Is there a project here worth engineering an approval for? A platform-driven feasibility read of your site, testing multiple configurations quickly. Indicative yield and massing, a constraints scan, an approval risk flag and an honest go/no-go. The read is yours to keep regardless of what you decide next.
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Stage 2
Approval Accelerator
(3–6 weeks)The redesign loop dies here. A close technical read of the planning scheme as it applies to your specific site, and a written pre-lodgement strategy: what will be sought, on what basis, through which mechanism. The feedback an authority gives you at month nine is built into the strategy at week three. Includes a DA-ready package.
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Stage 3
Master-Plan Premium
(6–10 weeks)A foundation every architect can build from. A concept masterplan carrying the optimised yield and the agreed approval strategy, a staged approvals roadmap, and a complete handoff-ready brief packaged for full architectural engagement.
Who
leads
Mark brings over two decades of architectural experience, shaped across London, Spain, and leading Australian firms including Hassell JCY, and Bernard Seeber. Known for his clarity under complexity and ability to navigate architectural funding, and regulatory terrain Mark has built a reputation for realizing projects once considered impossible.
At his core, Mark is a problem solver a designer who listens deeply, thinks laterally, and builds strategically. He leads maarch with the conviction that collaboration creates better architecture and better cities
Mark Aronson Director Registered Architect - WA
RAIA Member B.Arch (Hons), BA (Hons), PGDip (Newcastle, UK & Plymouth)
Insight
Why difficult sites fail at feasibility, not at design.
Is there a project here worth engineering an approval for?
A platform-driven feasibility read of your site, testing multiple configurations quickly. Indicative yield and massing, a constraints scan, an approval risk flag and an honest go/no-go. The read is yours to keep regardless of what you decide next.
What a written approval-risk read should contain before you brief an architect.
Is there a project here worth engineering an approval for?
A platform-driven feasibility read of your site, testing multiple configurations quickly. Indicative yield and massing, a constraints scan, an approval risk flag and an honest go/no-go. The read is yours to keep regardless of what you decide next.
Bushfire and vulnerable occupancies: designing the approval, not around it.
Is there a project here worth engineering an approval for?
A platform-driven feasibility read of your site, testing multiple configurations quickly. Indicative yield and massing, a constraints scan, an approval risk flag and an honest go/no-go. The read is yours to keep regardless of what you decide next.
FAQ
What is maarch
?
maarch is the specialist advisory arm of maarch Architects. We help owners and developers work out what is holding a difficult site back, plan the approval pathway, and reach a design-ready brief.
How is this different from hiring an architect or a town planner?
A conventional architect designs, and a planner is usually engaged after the design is drawn. We bring design, planning and commercial thinking together before design begins, so the approval strategy shapes the project rather than reacting to it.
What does it cost?
Fees are fixed for each engagement and confirmed after a short qualification call. The Project Unlock Diagnostic is paid, and ends in a written Pathway Review you own regardless of what you do next.
Who is it for?
Owners and developers of complex sites, aged care and institutional operators, and housing providers. It is not for straightforward sites with a clear path to approval.
Where do you work?
We are based in Perth and work first on Western Australian projects.
Do you guarantee approval?
No. Approval decisions rest with the relevant authorities. We plan and strengthen the pathway, and we tell you early if we think a project is not worth pursuing.
Three stages. Three gates.
You are never committed to
more than the stage you are in.
Fees are fixed for each engagement and confirmed after a short qualification call, because the correct fee depends on your site, your jurisdiction and your problem. They are deliberately not published here.
PRIVATE DIAGNOSTIC BRIEF
Shared privately with
qualified prospects after the initial qualification conversation.
7 Signs the Conventional
Approvals Route Is Costing Your Project
After your initial conversation, we share a brief that identifies the structural patterns causing well-resourced, well-advised projects to drift, redraw and bleed holding cost.
- The seven signs, and the audit question that tests each one against your project
- Why the conventional sequence is structurally inefficient: not a people problem
- The three levels of work, in the right order, that multiply rather than add value
Not publicly available. Talk to us to receive it.
You have read enough to know whether this is yours.
If several of the seven questions gave you a "no" or a "not sure", the next step is not a fee proposal. It starts with a short call about your site, your approvals history and your objectives. If the fit is there, we run a Project Unlock Diagnostic: paid, fixed fee, and ending in a written Pathway Review you can act on. We will be honest about whether the problem is one maarch is built to solve.