Our Story
MAD Design Studios was founded in 2013 by professional architect, Mholi Mthembu and marketing specialist – turned interior designer wife, Nqobile Mthembu.
Established with the vision to push the boundary of what the traditional architecture or interior firm does, MAD Design Studio pushes itself as one that offers a turnkey solution. This solution includes everything from architecture to the interiors, all the way through to furniture design and manufacturing, in order to be a “one-stop-shop” for clients to realise their design projects with less effort and stress!
The team loves staying connected to key global industry trends, drawing inspiration from the sophisticated and contemporary designs – whether from Italy, the east or the US – and then making it relatable to the African context. Their touch is elegant and sophisticated, and love creating the unexpected, pushing possibilities and challenging their team to think out of the box.
With a touch that is elegant and sophisticated and a love for creating the unexpected, pushing possibilities and challenging the MAD Design team to think out of the box is a central theme to the studio’s operations.
The team likes to think of this as ‘the MAD way’.
Hours in our days
Projects under our belts
Laughs a minute
we’re all a little mad here.
People always ask us, why do you call yourselves MAD?
We laugh and tell them, “well, when you think about it – it requires a little madness to be bold enough to chase this dream!”. We’re not MAD at all, we’re just a group of very passionate, creative and determined individuals.
The work we do is already very serious, and we treat it as such. However, in the midst of the crazy, we find a reason to laugh, tease or throw a meme! We’re a family, united by a common dream and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
about Our directors
MHOLI MTHEMBU
Co-founder and Managing Director
Mholi is a qualified Principal Architect with over 15 years of industry experience. While having worked in various firms within the industry, doing these projects have built both his knowledge and experience to equip him to lead a business like MAD Design Studios. Mholi is a confident and dynamic leader who applies a hands-on approach to his work and clients. He guides and maintains the design processes and the relationships that the business holds with its clients.
Mholi loves pushing boundaries and challenging the team to think out of the box to find design solutions. He applies a creative and dynamic approach to design, taking each new brief as a blank canvas to create.
NQOBILE MTHEMBU
Co-founder and Managing Director
Nqobile comes from a business studies background and has worked as a marketing professional in one of the world’s biggest FMCG companies for almost a decade. Her wealth of experience, managing brand strategy and positioning for global brands, has taught her a great deal about business development and designing products and services to meet consumers’ needs. Nqobile is a qualified Interior Designer and has joined forces with her husband to build the dream of having a turnkey, black-owned, design empire that will offer a unique service of architecture, interior and furniture under one roof.
Nqobile loves opulence – her taste is elegant and sophisticated, but she is practical in how she translates it into her designs.
Our Team
Learn more about the faces of MAD Design Studios
She is dynamic, diverse and confident. Zanele working with people, coming up with creative solutions and solving complex problems. Events and PR are her passion. She is constantly looking for ways to grow and improve.
ZANELE NYABA
Events, PR and Digital Coordinator
A quiet, soft-voiced, but sure individual. Zodwa has years of experience in the construction industry within project and finance administration. She loves numbers and coming up with creative solutions to meet clients’ needs and deadlines.
ZODWA TSHABALALA
Accounts and Procurement Administrator
Known as the ‘Details Man’, Mthunzi is a dedicated hard worker who loves practicality and figuring out ways to turn complex issues into tangible solutions. He loves fleshing out designs and breaking them into the ‘simplest element’ to help everyone understand what needs to be done to execute the project.
MTHUNZI KHUMALO
Architectural Technician
Nathi is determined and hard-working. He loves a new challenge and seeing it from conception to execution. He’s a natural with people and not afraid to get his hands dirty. He’s always open to new challenges and learning experiences.
NATHI BUTHELEZI
Kitchen Designer & Installation Coordinator
A young proactive, hard-working individual who’s always keen to learn and improve. Nkululeko has aspirations to positively contribute towards innovative and meaningful architecture. He is fascinated by the idea of creation and drawing a parallel between one’s imagination and the real world.
NKULULEKO KHESWA
Junior Architect
A creative interior designer with great intuition helps him understand customers unique needs. While creative, he is also tactical and pays attention to detail. Mzamo can easily design, develop and deliver high-end interiors and is always obsessing about getting better.
MZAMO DLAMINI
Interior Designer
Our Philosophy
1
DESIGN IS FLUID
We believe that design should not be rigid, but flow to fit the context of its environment, but neither do we believe a circle can’t sit within a square!
2
NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL
We believe that every new brief deserves a bespoke solution. We’re trained designers for a reason and don’t offer clients ‘cut-and-paste’ solutions.
3
A LITTLE MADNESS IS NECESSARY
There is no one solution to all design problems and even when the situation requires the same solution, we still look for the opportunity to introduce something MAD – this is our way.