Teams aren’t just assembled-
They’re curated
Teams are structured. Teams are curated. The right people, in the right roles, doing the right things at the right time. That’s where the magic happens.
We build teams around the challenge, not around a roster. We bring together the thinkers, makers, strategists, operators, designers, and troublemakers who can move an idea from
what if? to holy shit, did we really do that?
Because great work doesn’t come from having the most people in the room. It comes from having the right people in the room.
We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all teams. We believe in the right team for the right project — carefully built, thoughtfully curated, and ready to make something worth talking about.
Leadership is a thing
We have a focused intention towards assisting our clients to achieve optimum financial success and design excellence.
Jackson Butler
Impact Strategist
Jackson’s twenty-five-year journey through design and architecture has been shaped by curiosity, craft, and a love for the spaces that connect people. His path has taken him through the studios of Frank Gehry & Associates, Brooks Scarpa, GAP Inc., EDG Interior Architecture and Design, and Looney & Associates—each chapter adding new dimensions to his understanding of how design can inspire, perform, and endure.
His work has appeared in publications such as Metropolis, Architecture, and Interior Design, and earned him accolades including Metropolitan Home’s “Best New Home” award. Jackson holds a Master of Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), where his thesis received the Best Thesis distinction. He was also awarded the Robert Mangurian Grant, which took him to Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, Italy, for three months of on-site study, and spent a formative semester in Japan exploring how traditional architecture informs contemporary space-making.
At the heart of Jackson’s practice is a belief that design should do more than look beautiful—it should serve a purpose, tell a story, and drive value. He approaches every project as a collaboration between vision and strategy, always seeking that intersection where creativity meets measurable impact.
Top 5 Favorite Career Projects:
Mauna Kea Beach Resort- Hawaii
Ritz-Carlton Reserve - Cabo San Lucas
Yours Truly - Honolulu Hawaii
Westdrift - Autograph Manhattan Beach
Trueblood Residence - Palm Springs
Creativity is a thing too
From white board to white page, our unique design process yields one-of-a-kind outcomes.
Nao Yoneda
Creative Curator
With over twenty years of international experience, Nao has cultivated a design career shaped by curiosity, cultural exploration, and a deep passion for creating spaces that speak to the human experience. What began as a fascination with how design choreographs feeling — the rhythm of light, the texture of material, the quiet dialogue between form and function — has evolved into a global practice spanning hospitality, lifestyle, and brand-driven environments.
Her journey has taken her across continents and through the studios of some of the world’s most respected design firms, including Hirsch Bedner Associates, Looney & Associates, and SERA Architects. Along the way, each collaboration has expanded her creative vocabulary and sharpened her understanding of how local culture, operational flow, and storytelling intertwine to shape spaces that are not only memorable, but meaningful.
Now at MADE, Nao leads as both a visionary and a collaborator — guiding projects from concept to completion with an instinct for balance between creativity and purpose. Her approach fuses cultural narrative with spatial clarity, always seeking that subtle harmony where design becomes experience. Grounded by her passion for food, travel, and cross-cultural exchange, Nao continues to create environments that transcend aesthetics — spaces that connect, inspire, and endure.
Top 5 Favorite Career Projects:
Four Seasons, Kyoto Japan
InterContinental Manza Resort
Park Hyatt, Maldives
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
Piko, Honolulu Hawaii
Michael Roché
Visionary Extraordinaire
Michael Roche is a creative orchestrator, brand strategist, and designer who knows how to make brands mean something.
Over his career with creative leadership at EDG, Coppola Winery and Decide & CO, he’s shaped brands for Marriott, Westin, GAP Inc., Smith & Hawken, Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, GOTT’s Roadside, and plenty more. His work lives where strategy, design, and experience collide, turning big ideas into brands people actually remember.
With a BS in Environmental Design from UC Davis and a Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley, Roche brings a designer’s eye, a strategist’s brain, and a healthy respect for breaking the rules.
Top 5 Favorite Career Projects:
Viceroy
Autograph Collection
Westin
Thomas Keller Restaurant Group
Francis Ford Coppola Winery
Martha Alabanza
Spatial Storyteller
With a career rooted in Hawaii and shaped by a deep curiosity for art, architecture, and culture, her approach to design begins with a simple belief: the spaces we inhabit should not only be beautiful, but meaningful. Martha’s passion for interiors began at an early age and evolved through her studies of English Literature, Art, and Architecture in England, followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the University of Kansas.
Returning home to Oahu, she spent more than a decade working alongside some of Honolulu’s distinguished design firms, such as Philpotts Interiors, before establishing her own practice. Her work spans high-end residential and award-winning commercial projects throughout the Hawaiian Islands, as well as California and Washington. Each project has deepened her understanding of how material, light, proportion, and place can come together to create environments that feel both timeless and personal.
Martha’s design philosophy is grounded in simplicity, elegance, and thoughtful restraint. She approaches each project as a collaboration, whether creating an intimate home with an individual client or working alongside a broader team to bring a larger vision to life. Inspired by nature, music, art, travel, and the everyday connections that shape our lives, she seeks to create spaces that feel effortless yet considered—environments that connect with the people who experience them and endure well beyond the moment of completion.
Top 5 Favorite Career Projects:
Benioff Behavioral Heath, Hilo, HI
Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, Honolulu, HI
Straub Benioff Medical Center, Mililani, HI
Private Residence, Diamond Head, HI
Private Residence, Seattle, WA