About
Matthew E. Mawer was born in Chicago, Illinois and currently resides in Bellevue, Washington. Mr. Mawer has lived in the Seattle/Bellevue area since his arrival in 1984 from Austin, Texas. He is the owner/operator of a small residential design firm aptly named Matthew Mawer Residential Design (MMRD), also located in Bellevue, Washington. MMRD has been in operation since early 2003.
From 2003 - present, Matthew Mawer Residential Design - MMRD is focused on (but not limited to) projects located in the greater eastside area. The target market of the greater eastside area consists mainly of the communities of Mercer Island, Bellevue, Kirkland, Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point and Newcastle. Recently, MMRD has been involved with several projects in the high-end resort community of Suncadia, located near Roslyn, Washington. MMRD's clients include individual homeowners as well as builders. MMRD prides itself in providing intelligent floor planning and aesthetically pleasing forms all for a reasonable price and turn around time. As a one-man operation, Mr. Mawer is responsible for any and all of the MMRD day-to-day operations. In addition to his primary work function of designer, he is also in charge of drafting, bookkeeping, client relations, permit management, and marketing. While small, MMRD has become a great success story in its brief history. Due to a growing word-of-mouth demand, and a quality product, MMRD is in the enviable position of hand selecting its projects from a number of interested would-be clients.
From 1995 to 2003, Mr. Mawer worked at Statements Design and Building Co. (SD&B). SD&B was a residential design/build firm owned by Mr. Mawer's step-dad, Mike Burke, and mother, Linda Burke. Mr. Mawer was the lead designer for all projects during his 8-year period with SD&B. SD&B focused their efforts in the greater eastside area by building 4-8 custom spec. homes per year. Due to the nature of a small business, Mr. Mawer's responsibilities were not limited to merely design. Mr. Mawer also organized client meetings, created marketing materials, developed strategies for new projects/developments, ordered materials, managed subcontractors, developed interior design packages, and managed all projects through drafting, engineering and permitting. During his time at SD&B, Mr. Mawer's design style, attention to detail, and ability to listen to his clients helped him gain a loyal core of builders who followed him to MMRD. This, along with the experience gained performing in all areas of residential design/build with SD&B is largely what he attributes to his ability to successfully start MMRD.
From 1990 to 1995, Mr. Mawer attended Washington State University where he majored in Architecture. He currently holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree ('95), as well as a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies degree ('94). While at WSU, Mr. Mawer was an active member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Previous experience - Growing up as a builder's son, Mr. Mawer gained experience in the residential design/build industry at an early age. He has fond memories of wearing a tool belt at age 12 while helping his father build a summer home along the shores of lake LBJ near Austin, Texas. As he grew, Mr. Mawer spent every summer during his high school and college years on the job site. His duties ranged from manual labor tasks such as job site clean-up, to skilled labor as a pick-up framer, and eventually led to helping with design solutions.