Meet the architects who may break your suburb’s price record

In Australia’s competitive property market, Kyearn Ngoi and King Keng Lee of Kyearn Architecture prove that even ordinary sites can hold extraordinary value – their secret: giving up a fixed viewpoint.

For as long as he can remember, architect Kyearn Ngoi has been trying to find balance in a world of opposing views. Growing up in Malaysia, a multi-ethnic melting pot rich in traditions and cultures, he attended both international and local schools.  

This, he says, gave him a dual lens through which to see the two spheres he inhabited – East and West – one rooted in tradition and discipline, the other in openness and exploration. 

“When I later moved to Australia to study architecture, these perspectives fused into a way of thinking that always searched for balance: between art and pragmatism, form and function, vision and reality,” says Ngoi. 

His co-founding partner at Kyearn Architecture, King Keng Lee, had a similar experience.  

While Ngoi had begun working at one of Brisbane’s prestigious architecture practices, Lee explored the art of building design around the globe. 

From Johor Bahru, with its rows of monotonous, mass-produced high-rise developments, he moved to Adelaide to study architecture, went to Paris for further classical training, then worked for high-profile firms in Singapore and Sydney.  

Lee was struck by the diversity of styles he encountered in the West, the way even the smallest detail could tell a story about a building’s place and culture.  

At the same time, he developed an appreciation for Feng Shui – the ancient Chinese art of harmonising opposing energies in nature and at home. 

“There is never just one angle in approaching design,” says Lee. 

Cultivating an open mind

Versatility, cultural sensitivity and an open mind have become the hallmark of Kyearn Architecture. The Sydney-based team of architects and interior designers boasts a wide range of projects in Australia and abroad, from high-end residential to commercial and government work. 

Most importantly, Kyearn Architecture have earned accolades for crafting residences of excellence that meet the demands of Australia’s competitive property market.  

Not only do they win industry awards. They also regularly break price records in their suburbs – a testament to the architects’ uncanny sense of envisioning what prospective buyers want. 

Seeing potential where others see problems

The pair’s approach is steeped in innovation and a willingness to challenge the status quo. Where other people claim a site is lacking appeal, Ngoi and Lee pick up a pencil and ask themselves: what if? 

Murdoch Residence was such a project – a grand white estate in Sydney’s leafy northern suburb of Turramurra.  

Tall arched windows and a large marble entrance ooze the timeless elegance of modern classicism with a touch of French provincial charm. Lavender bushes line the front. Inside, double-volume ceilings create an air of grandeur and luxury. 

In 2023, Murdoch Residence was awarded a gold medal in the Urban Design & Architecture Awards. Its sale beat the existing price record in the suburb by 25%. 

The success was remarkable because most other developers had shunned the block. “When the site was first revealed, few people were impressed,” says Ngoi.  

It was an ordinary block, on an ordinary street. With its steep slope, rising about 1.5 metres from side to side, the land was considered problematic. 

Yet the team at Kyearn Architecture saw something else: possibility. They didn’t try to disguise the slope; they made it the heartbeat of the design, Ngoi says. “What initially seemed like the site’s greatest challenge transformed into the home’s defining character.” 

Murdoch Residence today serves as a proof point for everything that Kyearn Architecture stands for. It reflects their shared philosophy that “architecture can be inventive yet grounded, daring yet achievable”, says Ngoi.  

“Even in the most ordinary place, thoughtful design could spark extraordinary value.” 

Beautiful and feasible

Clients and developers praise the pair for their creativity and problem-solving skills – and for delivering tangible results. Ngoi holds a double degree in architecture and finance, enabling him to build spaces that are both beautiful and feasible. In fact, Kyearn Architecture’s first major showcase project, The Oasian Duo, was also their own development. Wearing the developer’s hat taught the architects lessons in managing budget pressures, market expectations and regulatory constraints. 

The site, in Sydney’s diverse and densely populated Inner-West, was narrow and small. Ngoi and Lee wanted to build two semi-detached residences on the lot. They knew that private car parks would attract buyers in an area where street parking is sparse. So they refined their award-winning design until each semi offered enough space to park three cars. The Oasian Duo broke the suburb’s record sales price at the time. 

Ngoi believes a flexible mind is key. “We don’t only think as architects, we step into the shoes of everyone connected to the building: the users of the home, the buyer evaluating its value, the developer needing to sell it, and the builder bringing it to life. By shifting between these viewpoints, we gain a deeper understanding of what makes a space successful,” he says. 

Resort-style living for city dwellers

Their most recent development, Highfield Residence in Sydney’s northern suburb of Lindfield, follows the same vein. Inspired by holiday resorts in Malaysia and Singapore, the house combines the practicality of Western life with the relaxed feel of a tropical oasis. Curved, cantilevered roofs add elegance. 

The highlight is an inverted double-volume void that opens from the ground floor downwards – not upwards, as design conventions would demand – to create a giant, lofty living area. 

Kyearn Architecture likes to challenge the norm, often out of necessity. Highfield Residence’s site was sloping “the wrong way”, says Ngoi, meaning buyers in this suburb prefer blocks where houses sit atop a slope. This site had the opposite contour. The architects still made it work.  

Australia offers a rare opportunity to embrace diversity in design and lifestyle, say Ngoi and Lee. 

“It’s about understanding how people live, how families evolve, and how culture shapes the way we inhabit space. Our designs must move with this current,” says Ngoi. 

“Architecture, to us, is the choreography of daily life – a space that breathes with its inhabitants and shapes the rhythm of living.” 

Learn more at Kyearnarchitecture.com