Baird Architects launches 12-piece BA Objeto line from new Lisbon studio

US studio Baird Architects has launched BA Objeto, a twelve-piece furniture collection of seating, tables, and shelving manufactured primarily in Lisbon, Portugal, where the firm has opened a new production studio.

Founder Matthew Baird led the inaugural line and designed several pieces himself, including a solid walnut "surf" table. Other works include a swooping aluminium coffee table by Ines Gulbenskian, a dark brown cork bench by Gina Jiang, a mirror by Portuguese designer Teresa Mascarenhas, and a plywood-and-leather chair by Katy Cheng.

Each piece carries an individual designer credit. Designers will receive a portion of profits from sales, according to Baird — a revenue split that formalizes the kind of attribution most architecture studios leave informal.

The split matters. Architecture practices have long absorbed furniture work into project fees, leaving designers uncredited and unpaid beyond the project. BA Objeto treats furniture as a parallel product line with its own ledger.

Baird described the unifying thread as a "considered approach to materiality, a crisp aesthetic, and a desire to push the boundaries of furniture design."

He framed the move to Dezeen as logical, not opportunistic: "Furniture feels like a natural extension of our architectural practice because it allows us to explore our interests in materiality, form, and craftsmanship at a more intimate scale."

The Lisbon studio anchors BA Objeto to European manufacturing lead times and a regional supplier network for cork, walnut, and aluminium.

What does the profit-sharing arrangement change for designers?

In-house architects and outside collaborators each retain authorship of their work. Baird added: "We also wanted to create something that celebrates the individual designers within our studio, giving them the freedom to develop pieces of their own while contributing to a collective endeavour."

The arrangement converts portfolio work into royalty-earning work. For practitioners weighing studio employment against independent practice, the model offers a third path: keep the day job, license the geometry to the firm.

Each piece in the catalogue lists a single designer. That signature stands in contrast to the unmarked interiors work most studios produce. The credit travels with the object into press, retail, and resale.

How does this fit the wider furniture-business reckoning?

Design companies from OMHU to Rarify have spoken to Dezeen this year about restructuring revenue and credit. BA Objeto enters that cohort with a particularly architectural framing — the studio treats furniture as a research output, not a side project.

The firm previously designed a shingled house in Maine, evidence that material experimentation at building scale has long been part of the practice. Furniture lets Baird's team test forms at a fraction of the cost.

Baird said the team is already "looking ahead" to a second collection. For competing studios watching from New York, Milan, or Copenhagen, the open question is whether the Lisbon production base scales — or whether the licensing model exports without the factory.