Our award-winning architecture brings inventive, intelligent design to a dynamic, multivalent world through residential, interior, cultural and commercial projects. Our speculative and community outreach work looks toward the future of architecture and brings design to broader communities.

Founded by Alexandra Barker, FAIA, in 2006, BAAO is a MWBE-certified business with projects that span various typologies ranging from architecture to interiors and landscape that include townhouses, residential developments, ground-up private residences, interiors, educational and retail projects, and speculative work in the New York area, regionally, and internationally. 

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With decades of built experience in across a multitude of projects, our practice has been recognized nationally through numerous design awards including the Society of American Architects and Architizer as well as regionally and locally by AIA New York State, NYC X Design, AIANY, AIABQDA, and the Architect’s Newspaper.

 Our work has appeared in Architectural Digest, Architecture Magazine, Architectural Record, The Wall Street Journal, ARC Magazine, Dezeen, and Metropolis.  A monograph on the firm’s work, titled BAAO, was released in 2019 through ORO Editions. 


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We are working toward expanding access to design to underserved communities through community outreach work in collaboration with a group of small firms working collectively through an organization called Design Advocates as well as independently through the Basement Apartment Conversion Program


Through our work, we have collaborated with a range of private, corporate, government, and nonprofit clients including The Hudson Companies, Trinity Real Estate, Concourse House, Restored Homes HDFC, and the New York City Department of Design and Construction.

 

Meet the Team

  • Alexandra Barker

    PRINCIPAL, FAIA, LEED AP


    With over 20 years of experience as a licensed architect, Alexandra Barker is the founder and principal of BAAO. Alexandra is also an associate professor and the interim chair of the Masters in Architecture program in the Graduate Architecture and Urban Design Department at the Pratt Institute, where she has taught since 2001. At Pratt, she has been the recipient of national grants to integrate practice and education and sustainable principles into Pratt’s graduate architecture curriculum.

    Alexandra Barker received her M.ARCH from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where she received the Templeton Kelly Prize and the Clifford Wong Housing Prize for her thesis work. Her undergraduate work in Visual and Environmental Studies was completed at Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude.

  • Annie Paz

    ASSOCIATE

    Annie Paz is a designer from Chicago, Illinois. She has a Master of Architecture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and a BA in Architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. With over 12 years of professional experience, Annie has completed a wide array of projects ranging from educational spaces, medical offices, and retail spaces to ground-up residential and townhouse renovations. Her areas of expertise include interior and exterior detailing and finishes as well as restoration work required on Landmarked projects.

  • Iryna Gulin

    Iryna Gulin

    PROJECT MANAGER

    Iryna Gulin is a designer from Queens, New York, with a Bachelor of Architecture from Thomas Jefferson University. Iryna has extensive experience in Landmark projects. Her background in fine art informs her design sensibility.

  • Kay Kofong Hsia

    PROJECT MANAGER

    Kay Hsia is a designer from Taipei, Taiwan. She graduated with an M.Arch from Pratt Institute, receiving the Sidney Katz Award for Design Excellence. Her prior experience includes MFA in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design, and a BS in Civil Engineering from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. With a diverse background including engineering and communication art, Kay brings a fresh and unique design perspective to architecture projects.

  • Madison Green

    PROJECT MANAGER

    Madison Green is an architectural designer from Lindsay, TX working in New York since 2021. Her experience spans a mix of residences, commercial spaces, and award-winning proposals for public spaces and international institutions. Outside of practice she has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, and a guest critic at Penn, Pratt, Syracuse, Temple, Kean, and UT Austin.

    Madison holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University.

  • Cristy Martinez

    PROJECT DESIGNER

    Cristy is a designer from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She holds a minor in Interior Design, Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of
    Puerto Rico and pursued advanced studies at Pratt Institute, where she earned her Master’s in Architecture.

    Cristy's professional experience spans both interior design and interior architecture, reflecting her versatility and holistic approach to spatial design.