Integrating design and construction

Mundo Design + Build

MANILA, Philippines -  The business MJ Ringor established in 2009 has evolved into Mundo Design + Build, a one-stop design and construction firm with a team currently numbering to 120.

“We are one of the few that integrate design and construction. The business was initially just about design but my clients would always complain about the poor service from their contractors. They saw my potential in project management and pushed me to get into construction. What makes us stand out is that we do not outsource the work so the client gets a genuinely centralized service, nobody is at the mercy of a third party. The project is easier to control,” Ringor, the chief executive officer, said.

After earning his degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Santo Tomas, Ringor flew to New York to join his family.  He took on odd jobs and worked as a handyman. He also got into furniture restoration. He would bring home old furniture he’d find on the street and restore them. “Our friends liked what I did and started asking me to work for them. I figured this was something I can do in the Philippines,” he said.

He thus moved back to Manila and opened a design firm in a 60-square meter space in Bonifacio Global City. “My clients in the US referred me to their friends here. I also got clients by hanging out at Home Depot and giving out my calling cards. There was a time I’d stay in Starbucks and offer our services to those I would hear discussing home finishing or renovation plans. My first projects were residences,” he recalled.

Mundo’s current client mix is 60 percent commercial and 40 percent residential. The cost of projects they have done ranges from P250,000 to P200 million which include offices, retail outlets, restaurants, condo units and houses. Their client roster includes Vikings Restaurant, Café Veranda in Taal Vista Hotel, Hotel 101, Microsoft, Millward Brown, Philex, Task Us and TNS.

Ringor’s role is supported by his wife, Kaye, the company’s chief financial officer. They are backed by a team of licensed professionals headed by design director Alelee Nanette Castro and project director Majalyn Rose Datuin.

“Our relationship with our clients is very personal. Our approach is one-on-one. We are flexible, we can easily adjust to the clients’ preferences and demands. We understand that these can change while the work is in progress,” Ringor said.  

Further expansion is on the horizon, with custom furniture production in the pipeline. “Mundo’s goal is to ‘build your world’. We’d like to be able to meet all your requirements, that’s where I want the company to go. And not only do we build aesthetically and structurally but I also want us to build the world of our staff and people in the community,” Ringor said.