baao is a New York-based architecture studio integrating rigorous research, collaborative practice, and inventive design.
Our Approach
We work closely with clients, collaborators, and communities, combining technical rigor with open inquiry to expand the possibilities within each project and shape enduring buildings, spaces, and environments.
Services
Architecture + Interiors
We work across architecture and interiors, from new construction to adaptive reuse and renovation, with projects spanning residential, educational, retail, wellness, cultural, and other public and community-serving spaces. Our work is grounded in disciplined curiosity and inquiry at every scale. Interior design is both an independent area of our practice and integral to our architectural work, shaping spaces through the considered integration of lighting, materials and finishes, millwork, and furniture.
Community
We believe architecture can strengthen the places, institutions, and resources that communities share. Our practice includes public and community-focused work, as well as partnerships with organizations we support through design. These projects reflect our commitment to expanding access to thoughtful design and contributing meaningfully to the public realm.
Specialities
With expertise across architecture and interiors, we bring particular depth to areas where complexity calls for thoughtful, inventive design.
Institutional & Educational
Our institutional work ranges from early childhood centers to cultural facilities. We design environments that balance programmatic rigor with openness and flexibility, supporting diverse users, from children to communities, that accommodates evolving needs and patterns of use.
Adaptive Reuse & Renovation
We specialize in working with existing building fabric, navigating evolving codes to transform historic townhouses and façades, repurpose industrial buildings, and design climate-adaptive responses for sensitive structures and vulnerable waterfront sites.
Ground-Up Architecture
Our ground-up work spans expansive estates to urban and waterfront sites. We respond to site-specific challenges, from climate vulnerability to spatial constraints, designing buildings that perform structurally, environmentally, and socially with imagination and precision.
