Concept Design

Mind Madrid

Mind Madrid

Madrid Innovation District, or MIND, is an urban regeneration project concept and implementation plan realized through design-thinking for research, alignment, and prioritization

The Challenge

How might we foster the urban regeneration of this declining area of Madrid while keeping the existing community's identity intact?

Outcome

An urban regeneration concept through a vibrant, climate-positive, inclusive neighborhood centered around people and healthcare innovation to serve the needs of the existing community while simultaneously attracting new businesses and talent for the future

This is not the entire project. Details upon request

Role

Concept & research workshops, community engagement (interview guide, activities, data synthesis), sustainability/technology strategy

Team: Juan Ortiz Monasterio O'Dogherty (finance), Charlotte Hemelaer (urban planning), Bernard D'Arche (strategy), Wei Liu (research)

Advisors from Arup, Blackstone, CBRE, and Comunidad de Madrid (government)

Time Frame

2 months

Conducted completely online, with exception to the final presenation, during the peak of COVID-19 in Spain

Context

The current state of the development plot and surrounding area is dilapidated and depleting, although in a prime location of Madrid. The total GFA of the plot to develop is 1,527,414 sqm. There is already an existing community who we would need to consider. Many are older, some are lower income who either live in social housing or in illegal structures without services such as electricity and running water. It is situated in Fuencarral Malmea, at the northern end of Paseo de la Castellana. Characterized by a lot of train rails crossing the East part of the area and a residential area on the West. Deeper dive in the "Urban Analysis: Opportunities" section

Process

Alignment

The main question when starting off is "What do we know?" We braindumped everything from SWOT to requirements

From there, we identified what we saw as problems and categorize them into problem types according to stakeholders to prepare us for researching the opportunities

Summary: The plot...

  • Currently suffers from important urban fractures

  • Is difficult to access both by car and by public transport

  • Is a mix of a green and brown field development



Aligning on expectations and common truths were essential to starting off with an engaged team

Urban Analysis: Opportunities

From our problem identification, we took a deeper dive into the opportunities. We examined everything such as infrastructure, transportation, and existing uses. In recognizing the catchment area and the resources available to us, we were able to answer the question of "Who are we serving?"" and identity our users. In this way, we could map our hypothesis strengths, weaknesses, and users to focus on listening to the community

Findings: The main focus should be on the healthcare community around the area

  • 7+ hospitals within a 5km radius, including the largest and best hospital in Spain, Hospital La Paz

  • Home to established knowledge centers such as IE University and UAM Faculty of Medicine

  • Both older (+65) and younger (millennials) in the area; good for patients and healthcare workers

  • Proximity to Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid's main Central Business District. This will only grow with Nuevo Norte; Europe's largest urban regeneration project that will promote economic growth and employment in the Spanish capital


Conclusion

This area is home to one of the most concentrated healthcare areas in Europe. Our goal is to capitalize on the existing resources and identity through an innovation district

Validation

To support our conclusion, we did further to ensure that this is the direction that we want to go in. This included market research/analysis as well as evidence that concepts exist, such as benchmarks taken from both Spain and other parts of the world

Our validation and justification comes from the fact that we already have the building blocks of innovation districts per Bruce Katz and Julie Wagner from the Brookings Institute (businesses, knowledge centers, and people), and the direction from the existing community (healthcare)

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.


Community Engagement

Once we had our concept, we wanted to narrow our focus by asking: "What does the community need and want? How might we enhance their identity in our development?" So we set out to talk to them in interactive phone interviews (journey maps, conversations about areas of improvement), community activities (exercises such as physically drawing their ideal work space with all desired amenities), and surveys. The main findings above were synthesized through the data that we had collected

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.


Ecosystem Mapping

From the data, we had an understanding of how the current ecosystem was; linear and disconnected

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.


Outcome: Reimagining & Ideation

In rethinking the ecosystem, we wanted to think about how to address the pain points and needs of our user through empathizing with their their end-to-end journeys

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.


We created personas to represent our two biggest user groups: elderly patients and students. The elderly patient is connected to many people throughout their care journey. They help us think about how to support everyone from their caretakers to their loved ones. The students help us think about resources needed to grow and innovate through their professional journeys

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.



What do we envision Madrid to look like in 2050?
How might we help build this future?

We often asked ourselves this question as a different way of approaching real estate. Because we took a human-centered approach, it was vital to dare to imagine. A sub question was "how might we be more climate positive and efficient?" This is a fun exercise one of our teammates, Juan, conducted to help envision that future

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.


The New Ecosystem

We thought about how we wanted to respond to our user's pains and needs through a reimagination of a future and ecosystem that is circular, where resources and people feed back into each other. For example, data by these entities is fed back to be made more efficient and knowledgeable

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.



We envision MIND Madrid to be a circular and sustainable testing ground for new technologies while simultaneously caring for it's community

Showcase: Technology Strategy & Product Mix

To further describe the technology strategy, I presented a use case where a student with diabetes wears a health tracking device, uses a smart refrigerator, and trash that would feed data back to the knowledge centers. These centers would collect and process the data in their research, and may come back to our user in the form of dietary recommendations

Since, at the end of the day, this is a real estate project, our product mix details the best use of land as part of the practical, such as sustainability strategy, development phases, legal structure, and financial analysis

Entire project not shown. Details upon request

We wanted to hone in on the user jounrey upon initial sign up.


Put in focus group screenshot somewhere to show you talked to people first hand.


*Graphics from Slidesgo and Flaticon

Takeaways

  • HAVE FUN! In an industry that is so mature and methodic, making room for openness and creativity helped us be dynamic with new ways of thinking

  • Strength in diversity. Our team consisted of people who have worked across industries (NGO/non-profit, technology, architecture, hospitality) and 4 continents (Europe, LATAM, North America, Africa). We fed off each other's perspectives and knowledge from the places we've worked in


  • The community matters. Listening and responding to the needs of the community builds rapport and buy-in. At the end of the day, they will determine the success of the project


  • Online facilitation is difficult, but much easier with planning. To keep people engaged, meeting planning is essential. My design thinking skills came very useful to keeping minds fresh

Portfolio made with thought in California

Contact

LinkedIn

hi@tamikwok.com

Portfolio made with thought in California

Contact

LinkedIn

hi@tamikwok.com

Portfolio made with thought in California

Contact

LinkedIn

hi@tamikwok.com

Takeaways

  • HAVE FUN! In an industry that is so mature and methodic, making room for openness and creativity helped us be dynamic with new ways of thinking

  • Strength in diversity. Our team consisted of people who have worked across industries (NGO/non-profit, technology, architecture, hospitality) and 4 continents (Europe, LATAM, North America, Africa). We fed off each other's perspectives and knowledge from the places we've worked in


  • The community matters. Listening and responding to the needs of the community builds rapport and buy-in. At the end of the day, they will determine the success of the project


  • Online facilitation is difficult, but much easier with planning. To keep people engaged, meeting planning is essential. My design thinking skills came very useful to keeping minds fresh

Portfolio made with thought in California

Contact

LinkedIn

hi@tamikwok.com

Portfolio made with thought in California

Contact

LinkedIn

hi@tamikwok.com