The Beginning
Started in Marcus's garage with a couple laptops and way more enthusiasm than sense. Our first project? A 900 sq ft laneway house that somehow won a local design award. We thought we'd made it - turns out we'd barely started.
Finding Our Voice
Moved to Granville Street. Five person team now. We'd done maybe 20 residential projects but wanted to push into commercial work. The sustainable angle wasn't just marketing - we genuinely couldn't stomach designing another building that'd hemorrhage energy for decades.
Elara spent six months getting LEED certified. I (Marcus here) went down a rabbit hole with passive house standards. Coffee consumption reached dangerous levels.
The Breakthrough
Landed our first major commercial project - a mixed-use building in Kitsilano. Client wanted contemporary, we pushed for net-zero. Took some convincing (okay, a lot of convincing) but the numbers worked out. Building's been operational since 2019 and the energy bills are basically nothing.
That project changed everything. Suddenly people were calling us. The sustainable approach wasn't a hard sell anymore - folks were actively seeking it out.
Pivot & Adapt
Yeah, 2020. You know. Like everyone else, we scrambled. Went fully remote, figured out virtual client meetings, realized we could actually work with people outside Vancouver. Added urban planning consultancy to our services because cities needed help rethinking public spaces.
Silver lining? We got really good at 3D visualization. Clients couldn't visit sites in person, so we made our renders stupidly detailed.
Heritage Meets Future
Started taking on heritage restoration work. Sounds counterintuitive for a "contemporary" firm, but hear us out - these old buildings were built to last. Our job's making them energy efficient without losing their character. It's basically the ultimate sustainability challenge.
Team grew to 14 people. We're still in the same Granville office though - just took over the floor above us.
Where We're At
Eleven years in. Still arguing about design details (some things never change). We've done over 80 projects now - residential, commercial, public spaces. Every single one designed with sustainability baked in from day one, not tacked on as an afterthought.
What drives us? Honestly, it's seeing a building work the way it should. When a client tells us their heating bill's half what they expected, or when people actually want to hang out in a public space we designed - that's the good stuff.
We're not trying to save the world or whatever. Just trying to design buildings that don't screw it up more than it already is. Small steps, yeah, but they add up.
