The building sector is getting back on its feet and joining the wave of innovation. The sector wants to put the 2008 crisis behind it, to introduce technology in its processes and the talent of professionals coming to the field with ideas to improve it. To do so, the large companies have fixed their attention on the 12 startups that the 4YFN put in the shop window of Construmat, the fair that until Friday will bring together the sector’s main players.
They are entrepreneurs that, in the words of 4YFN’s executive director, Esteban Redolfi, "want to use technology to improve processes, speed them up and create change." In fact, the building sector is one which most needs "a final push" to include the latest technical tools, he says, which makes the collaboration between startups and established companies a win-win situation for both parties. For the entrepreneurs, because "they can find a travelling partner with money and resources," points out Redolfi, while for companies "it is the chance to innovate with more assurance."
However, the main element does not lie in the arrival of entrepreneurs signalling an improvement in the sector, but rather a market with a lot of business opportunities beyond just bricks and mortar: renovation, decoration and completely personalised products and services or those offering more sustainable building.
In fact, this latter element is just what the sector needs, as the 4YFN’s executive director points out: "the norms of the European Commission increasingly cite sustainability." "I think that technology can help us to exit the crisis and move the sector forward for the benefit of the user because when we talk about technology we do not do so abstractly, but rather in terms of real problems and solutions," he adds.
Giving architects a helping hand
This way of thinking has led to the setting up of startups like SimBim, a consultancy focused on new technology applied to building. "We do not develop software, we work with the best companies that do to implement solutions that help architects to get the most out of their work," says the firm’s COO, Ioanna Alsasua, who insists that the architecture professionals "have stagnated because of the situation and because they have not learnt to adapt to innovation."
Bim is a technology already being used, although not by everyone. The firm distributes the software, introduces it into the routines of Spanish professionals and shows them how to use it by following the methodology it proposes.
Alsasua: "Architecture professionals have stagnated because of the situation and because they have not learnt to adapt to innovation"
In fact, the training project is something they have been working on for the past three years and they are taking advantage of this edition of Construmat, on the one hand, to present a new method of learning based on gamification, while on the other, they want to show how to work according to their methods. "We will do this in the OpenBIM Reality Show," she points out, "where we will simulate an office to show how architects following SimBim work, which is nothing more than an open and transparent method so that the members of the team communicate better." They will also have international experts to explain firsthand how to work with this system.
The company was set up in 2013 and since then has seen the Bim technology gain devotees. Although they import technology from other developers, they distribute within Spain, while for the training part they use Spanish architects working in other countries who do online courses.
Building also in 3D
"Architects no longer want to work on paper, they do not want to think up projects and then have to wait until they are built," says the CEO of Antiloop, David Bardos, who through his studio has created a programme called ArqVR, which allows professionals to see their work in 3D.
Another function it offers is the possibility of presenting a project in a "remote and controlled" way, in other words, "in a way that the professional has control of the audience’s experience, guiding them and preventing them from getting lost in this parallel space." Moreover, the CEO points out that ArqVR facilitates conversation between interlocutors during the virtual presentation.
Bardos: "Architects no longer want to work on paper"
The team made up of 12 employees is based in Barcelona, but they also want to sell the product abroad. They have five clients, two of which are in the Catalan capital and the others in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Personalising, where investing is not risky
As for the personalisation of products, Unic pools has found its niche in swimming pools. "Two years ago we detected an important problem. Attics, terraces and roofs needed made-to-measure, personalisable pools, which no one was offering. And so that is what we went on to do," business developer, Sidney Wuo, tells VIA Empresa.
Initially they targeted private clients who wanted to build a swimming pool at home, but experience led them to work above all in the hotel sector, "where the need is clearer." "An individual thinks and thinks about it and can take three or four years to make a decision, while a hotel needs the swimming pool now because it has to be ready for the summer," he says about the different targets.
Wuo: "Attics, terraces and roofs need made-to-measure, personalisable pools but no one was offering them"
Wuo is critical that everything is standardised in the building sector, which led them to opt for differentiation through customisation: "We make a made-to-measure product, with the desired design and everything the client wants." Another thing that is to their advantage is that establishments have to renovate regularly so as to offer something different to the client and encourage them to come back. A new swimming pool, he says, "is reason enough", and more so when it comes to the increasing demand for wellness and spas.
So far they have installed 15 swimming pools and among their clients is Meliá Hotels. Their individual clients are mostly people with spending power for whom investing in refurbishment is not a problem. This means that the crisis has not affected them, he admits. In fact, he say that they have even benefited from it: "Our clients have not had any difficulties. In fact, they have opted to spend money and increase the value of their properties. Unic poolsallows you to raise values by 10% to 15%. Thus, in a property worth more than 300,000 euros, the swimming pool works out as almost free." It is a feature that is above all attractive to investors and promoters.
In the same way that Wuo sees decoration as a safe option, the CEO and founder of You Can Deco, Pablo Téllez, realised the same thing. This startup has developed an application that answers three vital questions: the cost of renovation, what products will be needed, and which professionals can do the job. They are three questions all answered at the same time, something no other platform offers.
The tool allows users to visualise the space, make pertinent changes and remodel and decorate it to their taste while having control over the final cost. The result can be downloaded and taken to any professional, or wait for someone to bid for the work and provide a 100% of what the client is looking for.
Property firms and brands are also clients of the platform. The former use their services to make photomontages and see the before-and-after of the renovation or to add finishing touches to the tastes of a future tenant. As for the almost 50 brands that use them, they have found in You Can Deco an ideal shop window to promote themselves.