RSAAW Designing For The Future

“Rafael Santa Ana Architecture Workshop (RSAAW) is a Vancouver-based design workshop that believes in sustainability and social stewardship. With every project they undertake, their goal is to ‘contribute to the wider community in a thoughtful and meaningful manner.

“When evaluating potential projects, Rafael and his team don’t look at the sector, size or scope. Instead, they look for opportunities where ‘design can be pushed.’

‘That’s when we’ll always throw our hat in the ring and say, ‘We want to take a crack at that,’’ Rafael explains. ‘The typology doesn’t really matter to us. We believe anything can be properly designed, and any project is worth our time if there’s room to be creative.’

Recently, Rafael and the RSAAW team demonstrated their commitment to each of those principles on their Driftwood Gibsons project, which they developed in-house.

‘With this project, we want to use technology and ingenuity to show that you can create a high-end product that lives in alignment with nature – and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune,’ he adds. ‘It’s almost like an electric car,” he adds. “Even though now we see Teslas everywhere, back in the day they needed people to believe in them and commit to them.’”