RWA. R&D, Sustainability & Innovation

R&D, Sustainability & Innovation

All great architecture must be, by definition, sustainable.

RWA - INNOVATION

RWA carry out all their work from an R&D approach, exploring design solutions to face the ever-changing challenges imposed by the market.

One of the essential factors of Architecture is, undoubtedly, sustainability, meaning that which seeks minimising and, ultimately, neutralising the negative impact that buildings and the construction industry have on the environment.

Tradition & sustainable architecture

Vernacular architecture has historically incorporated technical and constructive solutions that adapted the needs of the building to its immediate environment. These solutions allowed making the constructions more sustainable in the most elementary sense of the concept. The use of eaves for protection from rain, the correct orientation of the openings, cross ventilation, patios and chimneys to take advantage of the Venturi effect, Trombe walls, the use of vegetation to create climatic microenvironments, lattices for solar protection, the use of autochthonous materials, etc., are strategies that were developed on a small scale and that continue to be fully valid as current solutions for architectural sustainability.

Innovation & sustainability

New technological solutions - such as the use of renewable energies -, political and social approaches - such as aid programs to improve energy efficiency - and green certifications - such as Passivhaus, LEED or BREAAM - have promoted, in recent years, a change in mentality that RWA have been betting on since the beginning of our professional career.

Industrialised construction

Industrialised or prefabricated construction is another way to implement or improve sustainability in our buildings. Not only because it allows us to optimise the quality of execution and construction times, but also because it facilitates the choice of more sustainable materials, the monitoring of their certification, the reduction of errors and the consequent energy savings in the repetition of finished works. To these benefits we must add the decongestion that the construction works produce in urban areas in terms of air and noise pollution, in addition to the reduction of traffic associated with shorter execution times. Nor is negligible the minimisation of the risks of accidents at work and the incentive to create jobs for specialised labour, which results in economic and employment improvements for society as a whole.
In short, industrialisation affects different fields: training of people, technical investments, implementation and continuous improvement of construction processes.

RWA - SUSTAINABILITY

RWA approach all their projects from the conceptualization and design to obtain energy qualifications such as LEED, BREEAM, etc. These certifications evaluate the energy efficiency of the buildings but, at the same time, value other aspects inherent to the building such as its sustainability, useful life, atmospheric impact, the use of water, materials and resources used, and, also, the quality of the resulting indoor environment and the design process.

RWA have always been at the forefront of sustainability in architecture, in projects such as the office building on Calle Pedro de Valdivia 10 - First building completed in Spain with LEED certification in 1999 -, the Augusta Business Park - Endesa Award for the most sustainable non-residential building 2008 - the Castellana 79 building - LEED Gold 2009 certification - or the Mirasierra building - Leed Silver 2009 Certification.

The strategy to be adopted for each case is established by making a previous evaluation of the building's needs, the possibilities of our clients and/or the characteristics of the projects, as for example in:

Existing buildings - replacing energy systems with more efficient and environmentally friendly ones, integrating renewable energies; Improving insulation; Optimising the use of natural light and building orientation.
New buildings - achieving the goal of "Nearly Zero Energy Consumption Building".

Pedro de Valdivia 10

First multi-tenant building with LEED certification in Spain

Castellana 79

LEED Gold Certification

Fuenfría 3

LEED Silver Certification

Augusta Business Park

Endesa Award for the most sustainable non-residential building 2008

RWA - LEADING-EDGE TOOLS

At RWA we stay up-to-date on the use of the latest leading-edge technologies. That is why, besides using CAD design tools (Computer-Aided Design), we have been working for years using BIM (Building Information Modeling) and Real-Time Rendering technologies. Our professionals, with extensive international experience, are trained in the use of these technologies that allow us to minimise errors in projects, coordinate with other agents in the sector, ease the monitoring of the work and facility management, and even help our clients to a better understanding of our designs with the help of 3D immersion.

RWA - RESEARCH

All these efforts by RWA in regards to developing an innovative and environmentally conscious architecture have been combined with research work in other equally fundamental parallel aspects of architecture. Studies carried out in the field of collaborative offices, technological development or changes in rental housing have been published and discussed in various media and conferences.

From RWA we endeavor to contribute our ideas and research to the different agents in the real estate market, so we try to participate in as many technical conferences and seminars on these topics at national and international level.

Here are some of our research and dissemination works:

New Urban Developments

Conceptual decisions during the design of new urban developments are one of the great tools for the generation of an integrating and pleasant city for citizens.
Unfortunately, in Spain few are the examples in which the creation of the new city is prioritising the generation of living and activity areas rather than circulatory spaces.
One only has to walk through the new consolidated neighbourhoods of Madrid (Las Tablas, Sanchinarro), without taking into account other more recent ones due to the lack of residents (such as El Cañaveral), to observe the desolation of the spaces destined for pedestrians. Few residents wish to walk along these overgrown avenues, around these six-lane roundabouts, to cross wide roads in order to reach boulevards with half the space allocated to vehicles. Just to buy a loaf of bread or enjoy a snack, the dependence on the car becomes unavoidable.

Not only roads, walking spaces and green areas generate a pedestrian-focused city. The building typologies also encourage the type of relations created between the private open areas of the residential developments and the public spaces of the adjacent roads. Thus, the predominance of the closed block typology in Sanchinarro generates an experience with its back to the city, hidden, recondite, in which only the occasional use of arcades soften this perception to some extent. In Las Tablas the solution is more heterogeneous, with the open block typology appearing to a much greater extent, favouring the existence of better and greater ventilation and sunlight, not only in the private spaces, but also in the surrounding pavements.
There are honourable exceptions in recent planning in Madrid, such as Montecarmelo, in which the designers opted to manage vehicle routes by allocating one road specifically for each direction of traffic, creating transversal green lanes every two blocks exclusive for pedestrians and cyclists. In addition to this good urban planning decision, there is the provision of retail premises at strategic points in the corners of the buildings and towards the roads, allowing the creation of controlled outdoor cafés. In addition, by avoiding the generalised use of the closed block typology, not only does this allow for the perception of a more transparent and open city, but also a healthier and cleaner one.

In Europe, great examples of urban developments more adapted to the needs of citizens have recently been created (Ørestad in Copenhagen, Leamouth Peninsula - London City Island - in London, and many other examples, as well as the Superblocks in Barcelona, just to mention one case of action in a consolidated city), in which the creation of specific spaces for coexistence and interpersonal relations is increased, pedestrians are given priority over private vehicles, building sizes and typologies are optimised to adapt to the human scale, while at the same time the generation of local retail and leisure spaces is encouraged.
The right design of new neighbourhoods also helps to create opportunities for real estate developments focused on new ways of living (such as co-living, co-housing, community residences, senior-living and any other future flex-living typologies) to have greater opportunities of development, while also allowing for the extrapolation of these types of vital exchanges, relationships and collaborations between people to the immediate urban environment of these buildings destined for the new uses.
Authorities and designers of the new city in Spain must change the focus and objectives of future planning developments. New neighbourhoods should in no case be conceived, perceived and used merely as a dormitory city. The city must be active, enjoyable, generative... alive.

New ways of living

Coliving, cohousing, flexible housing, Built-to-rent (BTR), collaborative housing... the new ways of living are here and they have come to stay.
Whether for temporary residences or longer periods of time, these new types of housing are no longer exclusive to young people: families, middle-aged people and senior citizens are also demanding different modes of living, in which community spaces are prioritised over the privacy of residential units. There are small differences between the various models, but they all pursue the same global concept: spaces for interaction with neighbours and co-residents are a very important part of each dwelling. Thus, co-working areas are created, as well as community lounge halls, meeting rooms, sports and gymnasium spaces, multi-purpose rooms where events can be organised, music can be played or celebrations can be held... the possibilities are endless.

The Local Authorities have understood this change and are already updating town ordinances in order to adapt to the needs that social changes have demanded. In fact, among other cities that are also pushing on this new concept, in July 2023 Madrid published the modification of the PGOU in which the new regulatory requirements for cohousing and coliving are included.
At RWA, always at the forefront of architectural possibilities, we have been promoting these new models among our clients for years, understanding that society is evolving and we must provide spaces and buildings to meet its needs.

At RWA we specialise in all segments of the Living sector, both in its conventional built-to-sell (BTS) and cooperative modalities as well as in the more recently developed built-to-rent (BTR), coliving and cohousing.
Within our experience it is worth highlighting our specialisation in the design and construction of economically and ecologically efficient buildings, guaranteed by obtaining LEED and BREEAM certifications according to the needs of our clients.
We invite you to consult the data in the interactive report Living, by CBRE, accessible under register, which in its latest edition highlights that already more than 53% of investment in the sector has been concentrated in flex-living, for residential assets in short- and medium-term rental format.

The Digital Transformation

The workplaces are the spatial support of the digital transformation.
These are acquiring new characteristics, being part of the transformation of the way work is developed.
The physical space is complementary to the digital space.
Objectives: to define the physical space according to the organisation and the particular operations of the company and to be a means of communication and spatial experience of the brand.

Office 1.0
Workspaces are being transformed to provide spatial support to the continuous digital evolution, involving themselves in the construction of their physical setting and offering their potential to define functional, experiential and expressive aspects.
The physical space has become just another device. All its features can be digitally modularised and it has to be interconnected with the rest of the devices and platforms.
The way of working is neither unique nor constant. Coordination and the offer of spaces to work is expanded to encourage dynamic and collaborative methods.

Office 2.0
The focus of the design of working spaces has shifted towards people. Greater efficiency and optimisation is linked to making the workspace a positive stimulus: it has to be the best place to work.
The health and well-being of employees has a direct impact on productivity, creativity and motivation.
Collaboration with clients and users in the development of every project is essential to generate the optimal and personalised workspace for each organisation.

Office 3.0
The workplace acquires new characteristics linked to the new production models: horizontal relations, digital immersion, dynamism and continuous evolution.
To communicate the brand, image is not enough, and the workplace is also involved in the brand experience.
The physical space is the complement to digital spaces. Perception and sensitivity are enhanced as a spatial support for the brand experience.

Built To Rent - The project defines the product

In the housing rental market, a change is in process, leaving behind the undifferentiated housing, to which the tenant adapts, and moves towards precise typologies in which multiple factors are contemplated to satisfy more specific demands.

We move from container buildings for rental units, in which the spaces and services offered have become increasingly important, to focus on tenants and their specific demands.

The architecture project is one of the substantial instruments to outline these specific models. The promotion of housing or rental accommodation does not respond to a single model. The definition of the appropriate model has to focus on the tenants and their specific demands. The definition of architecture helps to characterize the offer.

Contact Info
Paseo de la Castellana 151
28046 Madrid, Spain

email: info@rwa.es
phone: +34 915 718 330