Studio · Malibu
We give form.
Apel Design is a multidisciplinary architecture and design studio where artistic instinct, technical knowledge, and building experience meet.
The practice
Creative ambition. Real responsibility.
Architecture is more than producing plans, obtaining permits, or making attractive images. It brings needs, ideas, constraints, engineering, approvals, cost, craft, and the emotional weight of a place into one physical composition.
Whether the project is a home, a multifamily building, a commercial property, an interior, or a community, the responsibility is the same: listen closely, understand the whole problem, and give it a form that can endure.
Founder + creative direction
Amit Apel · Designer, artist, sculptor, maker.
For more than three decades, Amit has developed a practice that moves between architecture, interiors, furniture, art, sculpture, development thinking, and hands-on making.
His work treats buildings as lived works of art, shaped by place, purpose, movement, material, and the person who will inhabit them.
The team
Six people. One connected practice.
Creative direction, marketing, sales, property operations, architecture, engineering, land use, finances, legal knowledge, and construction operations work together as one Apel Design team.
Founder + Creative Director
Amit Apel
With 30+ years of architectural design and construction experience, Amit sets the studio’s creative direction, drawing on a lifelong practice in art, sculpture, interiors, objects, and hands-on making.Amit@ApelDesign.com ↗
Principal Architect
Michael B. Maclaren, AIA
A licensed architect, contractor, and real estate professional with 30+ years of experience, Mike brings deep knowledge of healthcare, special-needs environments, accessibility, code, permitting, construction, and building oversight.Mike@ApelDesign.com ↗
Architecture + Engineering + Land Use
Luke Tarr
With 20+ years of experience, Luke guides design, feasibility, engineering coordination, entitlements, permits, plans, and the many disciplines required to move a project forward.Luke@ApelDesign.com ↗
Finances
Elchin Sadigov
A licensed attorney, Elchin brings legal and financial perspective to project strategy, risk identification, agreements, and coordination with independently retained counsel.Elchin@ApelDesign.com ↗
Construction Operations
Ben Bodoni
Keeps the work connected to field conditions, construction sequencing, trades, site logistics, quality, and hands-on execution.Ben@ApelDesign.com ↗
Marketing + Sales + Property Operations
Vittal Apel
Connects the studio with new opportunities while coordinating marketing, sales, client communication, and property operations.Vittal@ApelDesign.com ↗Knowledge + experience
What the studio actually knows how to do.
Apel Design is unusual in carrying design, approvals, engineering coordination and construction in one practice. The value is not the list. It is that the people who draw the building are the people who have to make it stand up, get approved and get built.
1,100+projects across many building types
30+years of design and building practice
Malibucoastal, hillside and canyon conditions as daily work
Architecture
Custom residences, multifamily, mixed-use, commercial and hospitality, performed in association with Michael B. Maclaren, AIA.
Interior architecture
Interiors resolved with the building rather than applied to it, including furniture, art and sculpture made for the room.
Land use + entitlements
Zoning analysis, discretionary approvals, Coastal Development Permits and the realistic approval path before design commits.
Civil + site engineering
Grading, drainage, retaining, septic or sewer, water and fire service, and the access that determines what a hillside site can hold.
Building systems
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, low-voltage and smart home, coordinated against real dimensions.
Construction
Licensed residential construction through Creative New Dimensions Inc, CA General Building Contractor, Class B, CSLB #1056632, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.
Clinical + accessible environments
Healthcare and accessibility work, informed by more than twenty-five years of registered nursing practice within the team.
Owner's representation
Acting for the client across design, construction and the real-estate decisions attached to them.
Strategic project leadership
When the project needs more than a drawing set.
Private clients + family offices
Owner’s Representative + Integrated Project Leadership
One informed advocate across feasibility, team coordination, design, approvals, budget, schedule, construction, and closeout.
Properties + entitlementsLand Use Strategy + Entitlement Coordination
Architecture-led coordination among planning, technical consultants, agencies, independent counsel, and development decisions.
Process, not portfolio
Studio life
The people, the process, and the place.
Design happens in a real place, with real people, plans on the table, and more than a few good dogs underfoot. A look inside the studio.
Featured in
New York PostDwellRobb ReportMansion GlobalLos Angeles TimesKTLA 5Design MilkArchitizerArchitect MagazineCurbed LA
71 features and awards ↗