Best in CLASS best in COUNTRY
Alberta stands tall at National Awards for Housing Excellence
New home builders, designers, developers and marketing teams from across the country gathered June 12 to watch the 2020 Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) National Awards for Housing Excellence.
The two-hour ceremony was broadcast live on Youtube with pre-recorded reactions from winners coast to coast. Of the 700 entries in the annual competition, which recognizes excellence in the Canadian housing market, 50 Alberta entries were named finalists, 13 were runners up and five were named winners.
Kevin Lee, chief executive of the CHBA, says historically Alberta companies are very competitive.
“The variety, innovation and livability of the homes and communities that were entered this year was top notch and the marketing entries were creative and in-touch with what Canadians are looking for,” he says.
In Calgary, Brookfield Residential won a marketing award for Best Interior Decorating for the Catania show home in Artesia. Tiffany Ardolino, director of sales, marketing and customer care, land and housing development, says the recognition is particularly gratifying because after the 2015 acquisition of Albi Homes, the Catania is the first estate show home opened under the Brookfield banner.
“We decided to take a bolder, more contemporary approach than we had in the past with the finishings, furniture and decor,” she says, crediting show home co-ordinator Chloe Leung and Brookfield’s interior design team.
A show home is an important marketing tool for new home builders.
“We want people not only to get excited and emotionally connected with the home but ensure that it’s memorable through a series of surprise and delights,” she says.
The Catania was also a finalist for Best Bungalow.
On the land development side, Brookfield was a finalist in Community Development for Artesia, along with West Campus Development Trust for University District and Macdonald Communities for Watermark at Bearspaw.
Deanmark Developments was both winner and runner up in the Detached Homes 1,800 to 2,400 square feet category.
The family-owned company was a regional finalist in the 2019 BILD Alberta awards for its European-inspired inner-city home design.
The recognition for Wick House and Temple House in West Hillhurst is the first national CHBA awards the company has received, says managing partner Mark Bajramovic.
“We are incredibly passionate and (meticulous) about everything we do and, hopefully, the product shows that. With everything that’s going on in Alberta, we are very proud to be producing some of the best in show in the country,” he says.
“Our focus is Calgary and contributing to the fabric of the city. We want to populate the city with beautiful homes.”
In the home renovation class, Calgary’s Ultimate Homes and Renovations was a finalist in several categories and a runner-up in two, including Kitchens $70,000 to $100,000 for Modern Walnut Kitchen Transformation and for an Exterior Renovation called Outdoor Living on Hole 9.
Ultimate’s founder and president, Danny Ritchie, is no stranger to winning awards but was surprised to win a marketing award for the nation’s best video. The one-minute emotional piece titled You Deserve This depicts homeowners striving for success and rewarding themselves with a fabulous home makeover. The video was produced in-house, posted on the company website and promoted on social media.
“We did it about a year ago and it seemed to get some attention, so I thought, let’s try and enter this,” Ritchie says.
Alberta builders were well represented, including Edmonton’s Milestone Builder Group, presented with the 2020 Design Excellence Award, the pinnacle of achievement in residential new home construction. This big win went to Alberta for the second year in a row.
“It’s no easy feat to even qualify for this award, which requires the builder to have entered into at least four different new home categories and to have won at least in one of them,” Lee says.
Milestone also took a top spot in marketing for Best Direct Promotion with its Kiss Your Landlord Goodbye! print campaign and Best Detached Home 2,401 to 2,800 square feet with the “Marcus” floor plan. The builder was a multi-finalist in four other categories.
Brookfield in Edmonton was a Best Community finalist for Lake Summerside and a finalist in three marketing categories: Signage and Best Sales Office for its Orchards development in south Edmonton and Best Digital Media campaign, low-rise, for its Brookfield DIY series. The builder side was also a finalist for its Belvedere in the Orchards detached home under 1,800 square feet.
The complete list of winners is on the CHBA website at chba.ca.