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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

RSAAW

Architectural practice focused on meticulous and thoughtful design that's responsive to the present

Rafael Santa Ana Architecture Workshop practices with building technologies that adapt to the specific requirements of each program, while fabricating expressive contemporary interventions that contribute to the wider community in a thoughtful and meaningful manner. The workshop believes that all good design is inherently sustainable and aims to guide the client towards incorporating environmental

and social stewardship elements into the project. Our core value centres on the goal of anticipating the evolution of need and use of each intervention, thus future-proofing and ensuring maximum sustainability through adaptation. Our design approach is participatory and collaborative, with full and meaningful dialogue between consultants and colleagues in all required disciplines throughout the design process. Innovation is key and we incorporate new systems and technologies into our design while remaining sensitive to opportunities to re-use and reflect the history of place and people.

05/28/2026

The Mintara Patio Expansion design has been carefully developed not only to blend with the pre-existing architecture but also to enhance its functionality and aesthetic appeal.
The architectural massing and its intentionally angled orientation are designed to follow the site’s topography, thereby accentuating the views toward the urban skyline.

This project is under construction.

Client:
Contractor:
Mechanical Consultant:

05/10/2026

Mármara was conceived as a gallery rather than a traditional showroom, inviting visitors to walk through, explore samples, and experience stone as a form of natural art rather than simply a material. The gallery is organized around a rotating stone sample wall that allows each piece’s colours, textures, and veining to be appreciated under both natural and artificial light. This wall can open to bring in daylight and views, or close to create a rich, layered stone surface. The gallery itself remains open and flexible, providing a quiet space that focuses attention on the natural beauty of the material.

05/05/2026

RSAAW designed Mármara Studio’s stone shop as a gallery-like space, rather than a traditional showroom. The goal was to create an open and calm environment where visitors can walk through, explore samples, and experience natural stone as an art piece as well as a material.

An olive tree at the entrance references the Greek origins of the stone, and inside, the main feature of the space is a rotating stone-sample wall that allows visitors to turn each plate and see the colours, textures, and veining under both natural and artificial light.

The wall can open to bring in daylight and views, or close to form a rich layered surface of stone. With minimal furniture and a restrained interior, the space remains flexible, quiet, and focused on the natural beauty of the material.

04/16/2026

For Refine Fitness Studio in West Vancouver, RSAAW designed a wellness space shaped by calm, clarity, and ritual. Within a compact footprint, the project brings together an open studio floor, a welcoming reception area, integrated storage, and accessible support spaces to create a seamless experience from arrival to practice. Warm plaster walls, soft wood tones, and carefully detailed millwork give the interior a grounded, quiet character, while arched elements and custom features add rhythm and, identity.
Natural light animates the front of the studio, and a restrained palette of blush tile, white oak, stone, and soft lighting extends that sense of ease throughout the space. Every element was designed to support movement, focus, and everyday wellness. The result is a studio that feels both refined and functional: a place for community, strength, and restoration.
studio
Mechanical:
Electrical: WGW Engineering Ltd
Workout equipment:
General Contractor:

Photos by: .zolfaghari

03/13/2026

La Taqueria’s minimalist restaurant is located at West Hastings and Seymour, in the
heart of Downtown Vancouver.
Spanning 1,800 square feet, the innovative yet authentic taqueria masterfully blends
minimalist design with Mexican-inspired earthy tones, all enhanced by natural light
pouring through towering floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides. With seating for up
to fifty guests, including both indoor and outdoor options, the space creates a strong
sense of community and openness.
Above the dining area, the mezzanine kitchen features a vertical rotisserie, offering
diners a tantalizing view of the cooking process. A staircase made of perforated
aluminum imaging panels connects the two levels.

Photos by:
General contractor:
Mechanical Engineer: Fluid Mechanical
Electrical Engineer:
Structural Engineer:
Fire Suppression:
Kitchen Consultants:

01/27/2026

A dialogue between city and architecture.

Willowbrook is an 11,000 sq ft freestanding restaurant at 6141 200 Street, planned as a high-capacity standalone volume with over 340 seats across interior dining, lounge, enclosed all-season patio, and open-air seasonal patio zones.

The architectural layout organizes varied seating and room compartments around perimeter glazing and patio edges to preserve strong visual connections to the street and adjacent plazas, while a dedicated takeout window is integrated on the 200 Street frontage as part of a cohesive, street-oriented elevation strategy.

Interior photos:
Exterior photos:
Interiors by McKinley Studios

01/16/2026

A garage design addition to the client’s main residence on the southern point of Bowen Island. Serving principally as a multi-car garage and a woodshop, this building also holds a wellness space above with a meditation room and physio lab equipped accordingly, overlooking the gardens and forested site. The building hovers aligned to the landscape to provide storage space underneath.

Videography:

01/06/2026

RSAAW’s design establishes the foundation for at , shaping a 10,000 square foot, two-level restaurant that turns a constrained, high-traffic waterfront site into a functional social anchor. The architecture prioritizes openness and continuity, creating strong indoor–outdoor connections with a signature waterfront patio overlooking the harbour.

The plan is organized around public movement, with vertical circulation, accessible bar placements, and pedestrian connections responding directly to the Seabus terminal, market, and Shipyards amenities.

High-capacity kitchen and service systems are integrated to support stacked dining rooms and expansive patios, enabling consistent performance during peak periods while positioning the quay as an all-season gathering place for the ’s waterfront.

Interior photos:
Exterior photos:
Interiors by McKinley Studios

01/03/2026

For UBC’s Association of Administrative and Professional Staff (AAPS) community, RSAAW designed a workplace rooted in light, clarity, and performance.

Glazing brings natural daylight deep into the interior, while tonal palette inspired by the organization’s branding and the surrounding landscape shapes a calm, welcoming environment.

This space was designed for the people who make UBC’s campus work. Flexible meeting rooms, warm materials, and acoustic detailing work together to support collaboration, advocacy, and connection.

Photography:

01/01/2026

Architecture sits at the intersection of memory and possibility. It is shaped not only by form and material, but by the people, places, and conversations that inform it over time. Each project carries traces of what has come before, while laying the groundwork for what’s to come.

Our work is grounded in collaboration — in the shared trust of clients, partners, consultants, and builders who help move ideas from intention to reality. These relationships give continuity to the practice and depth to the work itself.

As we look ahead, we do so with gratitude for those who have shaped our journey and with optimism for what lies beyond the horizon. The future remains bright, and we welcome the opportunity to continue shaping it together.

Address

1737 W 3rd Avenue, Unit 230
Vancouver, BC
V6J1K7

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+16046287881

Website

http://rsaaw.com/

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