Cathy is known for her aesthetic that flows from contemporary and clean lines to modern tropical, with some projects leaning on a combination of mid-century with industrial-glass materiality style. Influenced largely to take up Architecture by her late father’s work as an engineer in public housing, she has built over the years a body of work with a distinct creative and environmental conservation imprint.

She was a student leader in the late turbulent ‘80s at UP Diliman where she graduated in 1990. In 2000 she delivered one of the Valedictory addresses at the Asian Institute of Management where she graduated with Honors.

Cathy Saldaña is currently one of the most prominent female Architects in the country. She is known for Hospitality Design, Retail Mixed Use, Residential High Rises, Logistics, Industrial, Island Development and is one of the pioneers in sustainable resort design and also since 2006, an expert on international architectural outsourcing.

She has been doing challenging and technical work across the Philippine islands, along coastlines, in major cities and provinces. She did 2 airports for Ayala Land, alongside several Ayala Land hotels such as Seda Lio in El Nido, Palawan, local design renovations of Shangri-La Resorts, Filinvest, Punta Fuego Group, Discovery, Marriott Hotels, HII and several private island luxury hospitality places. She recently was awarded for Best Architecture Design for an Office Tower in the Asia-Philippine Property Awards for her Diamond Tower project for Damosa Land in Davao City. She has also received citations for other high rise projects.

There are advocacies close to her heart: inclusive sustainable architecture and the preservation of natural environments amidst new building technologies.

She is part of several women’s leadership groups such as Women in Real Estate, and is recognized for her contributions to the building industry as a female Architect. She was one of the first batch of writers for BluPrint in 1997-2004, was former Editor in chief of the Arcasia newsletter and currently contributes articles to the Philippine Daily Inquirer for sustainable design and urban planning.

Hers is a familiar and strong voice in conventions and conferences both locally and internationally, as she has been and continues to speak at Hospitality Investment Conferences, Is one of the four Directors of Anthology every year in Intramuros, is active with the Urban Land Institute, the FIABCI, the Asia CEO Forum and the United Architects of the Philippines. She is a regular speaker and featured Architect at Worldbex, and is the Program Director for the upcoming World Congress of EAROPH or East Asian Regional Organization for Planning and Human Settlements, and many others.

She has recently delivered lectures and research papers in Florence, Italy and Palermo, Italy and Newcastle, Australia. A topic close to her heart is Coastal Design: Architecture and Construction by the Water, where she has probed in-depth into projects and communities beside the seas.

Her firm is a volunteer Architect for Bantay Kalikasan and the Foundation of the late Ms. Gina Lopez working on projects in remote locations.

She is the owner and Managing Director | CEO of PDP Architects, based in Makati City and another design outsource company called Collaboration Authority. She and her firm have been recognized locally and internationally.

She is an International Associate of the American Institute of Architects; was formerly President of the UP College of Architecture Alumni Foundation and in 2019 was elevated as Fellow at the United Architects of the Philippines.