TQ Construction, a local renovation company, won big this month at the Canadian Home Builders Association's Sales and Marketing Awards, after placing as a finalist at the local Ovation and provincial Georgie awards.
The winning project was Lynndale Retreat, located in Burnaby, which won for best whole house renovation between $250,000 to $500,000.
The secret to TQ's success was working with the client's vision for the home, according to Ralph Belisle, president of the company.
"The design standards themselves were very high," he said. "He was not a cookie-cutter guy. This is someone who wanted something special and unique."
The complete renovation took from February to August last year, with a lot of follow-up to tweak things, according to Belisle.
The goal was to open the place up, he said, and the designer came up with an open concept that was contemporary and modern.
At the same time, TQ worked with the client to bring back an intimate, inviting feel to the space, according to Belisle.
"I was really inspired by the owner's adherence to one of my principles - don't throw away what you love," he said, adding the client had lived in the home earlier in his life. "We recaptured something that was lost."
Planning ahead on the project kept things on track, according to Belisle, who said the greatest challenge was that a corner of the 25-year-old home had rotted and need to be rebuilt.
"The day-to-day problems were more about adaptation," he added, pointing out clients' wishes can change throughout the renovation process.
Belisle credits the win to his team, who he said worked really hard on the project.
"The whole team helped put it together," he said. "This validates their work. This is for the people in our office who really care about seeing the company do well.”
While Belisle is happy to have won a national award - the third for his company - he said the work itself is just as important.
"I get as much from the challenge as I do from winning," he said.
