The BAAD Story

In 2010, architects Benjee Mendoza and An Bermejo-Mendoza founded Benjamin Annabelle Architecture Design Studio—BAAD Studio—in the Philippines. What began as an organic, demand-driven practice between college classmates who had long shared the same thesis advisors and a mutual language of design has grown into a distinguished studio with offices in Makati and Alabang, and a team of passionate architects, designers, and collaborators committed to elevating the human experience through space. Their beginnings were deliberately unforced. “We built BAAD Studio in 2010, and we’re grateful that its beginnings were organic. The studio grew naturally, shaped by demand, and guided by our capacity and capabilities at every stage,” An has recalled. Early private commissions and a willingness to learn through mistakes forged a practice that values listening over imposing, process over preconceived style, and responsibility over spectacle.

At the heart of BAAD Studio is a clear philosophy: great architecture must resonate with its place, react to its conditions, and perform under the realities of the Philippines—heat, humidity, typhoons, and the rhythms of daily life. Climate responsiveness is not an option; it is the foundation. Designs prioritize passive cooling, natural ventilation, light wells, courtyards, and material honesty so that buildings breathe, shelter, and endure without relying solely on mechanical systems. Sustainability is treated as necessity rather than trend. Minimalism, for the studio, is not austerity but cohesion—subtracting the unnecessary so that space, light, air, and the people who inhabit it can fully express themselves.

The work begins with people and place. BAAD Studio approaches each project as consultants who listen deeply to clients’ lives, aspirations, and the unique demands of the site. They avoid imprinting a signature style, instead organizing thoughts into solutions where function meets beauty, and where the boundary between indoors and outdoors can dissolve. Homes open inward through voids and green pockets; materials—local stone, tanguile wood, textured surfaces—are chosen for honesty and performance; structures are fortified against seismic and weather extremes while remaining permeable to breeze and light.

Across residences, civic works, interiors, and planning, BAAD Studio creates atmospheric architecture that balances well-being with ecological sensitivity. Today BAAD Studio continues to evolve with the same quiet intentionality that marked its founding: rooted in Philippine climate and culture, open to innovation in materials and fabrication, and dedicated to spaces that make people happier, healthier, and more connected to the places they inhabit. Architecture, for them, is not grand gesture but the patient craft of being in tune—with people, environment, materials, and the everyday rhythms that shape a life.