The grand halls of the JW Marriott Parq Hotel in Vancouver set the stage for an unforgettable evening of galactic celebration as esteemed members gathered for the unveiling of the HAVAN Awards of Housing Excellence winner announcements on Saturday, May 4, 2024—Star Wars Day!
550 distinguished guests from across the industry gathered for this exclusive premier event, enjoying a red-carpet reception with savoury canapes sponsored by MIRA Floors and Interiors, a complimentary champagne wall sponsored by Caesarstone Canada and Colonial Countertops, a 360 Degree Videocam sponsored by Pacific Art Stone, a “HAVAN” magazine Lightbox sponsored by FortisBC, and a lovely string quartet who played everything from “This Child of Mine” to “Concerning Hobbits.” This great networking opportunity saw our members and guests reuniting, chatting with their peers, and congratulating each other on their work and achievements.
As anticipation crackled in the air like Force lightning, a hush fell over the room as the crowd settling for dinner heard the unmistakable presence of Darth Vader himself, as he loomed into view. With heavy breaths and an imposing gait, the Sith Lord delivered a chilling greeting, his deep voice resonating far and wide.
Followed by remarks from yours truly, presenting sponsor Fortis BC, and a special video greeting from Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, Host, Bianca Solterbeck, kept the evening laser-focused and on track to help present 60 awards in a record-breaking hour and a half.
Award presentations were followed by a spirited “after party” that extended into the early hours with dancing, a couple of great late-night food stations, photo opps, swinging chairs, dance floor, and more networking with compliments being extended to winners, and in some cases winners of multiple awards. Guests also received a gift bag including media sponsor magazines featuring the HAVAN Awards, and a Lego house kit sponsored by FortisBC that will allow everyone to build their own little dream home!
More than networking and celebrations, the HAVAN Awards for Housing Excellence place a spotlight on the remarkable accomplishments of the Lower Mainland’s homebuilding industry, showcasing a diverse range of housing archetypes. From awe-inspiring custom-built homes and comprehensive whole-home renovations to luxurious condos and family-oriented townhomes, the awards celebrate innovation, craftsmanship, and design excellence across the housing spectrum. This year’s event also introduced new categories, including ‘Best Multiplex Development,’ and ‘Best Multiplex Unit’ reflecting the evolving landscape of housing solutions in the region.
I would like to underscore the significance of the newly introduced categories, emphasizing their role in acknowledging industry leaders who are spearheading initiatives to meet evolving housing needs and new provincial policies and programs, while prioritizing energy efficiency, low carbon footprints and sustainability. Our members collaborate with local, and provincial governments to address housing challenges, and these awards highlight the professionalism, expertise, and innovation of our members. The rigorous evaluation process conducted by a panel of award-winning builders, renovators, and designers from outside of our region also provides consumers with invaluable insights when selecting partners for their custom home and renovation projects and highlights the products and efforts of our production builders in both single-family and multi applications, too.
In the video greeting and remarks by Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, our members were complimented for their efforts and their contributions to housing in helping to address the housing crisis with effective and innovative product of high quality and specification.
The 15th annual HAVAN awards attracted a record-breaking 455 entries from 154 builders and designers, competing for 60 prestigious HAVAN Awards. Forty-two winners were announced, representing excellence across various categories of the housing continuum. We extend our congratulations to the winners and all the finalists as well. The winning decisions for the judges would have been very difficult as all of the finalists represented a broad range of first-class projects.
Notable mentions include winners for:
Best Multiplex Unit: Darkness and Light, Alair Homes Vancouver
Best Multiplex Development, and Best New Kitchen: Multi-Family Production Home: Otto, Tera Development (Richmond)
Six members were recognized with Grand HAVAN Awards including:
Grand HAVAN Interior Designer of the Year: SGDI Sarah Gallop Design Inc. with 6 nominations and 2 wins,
Grand HAVAN Custom Builder of the Year: Naikoon Contracting with 11 nominations and 4 wins,
Grand HAVAN Residential Renovator of the Year: Tavan Developments with 9 nominations, and 7 wins,
GRAND HAVAN Best Residential Community: Multi-Family: Park Ridge Homes Inc. with 5 nominations and 2 wins for Fox and Aikins,
GRAND HAVAN Single-Family Home Builder of the Year: Miracon Development for Mirada Estates totalling 14 nominations with 10 wins, and
GRAND HAVAN Multi-Family Home Builder of the Year: Zenterra Development Ltd. with 9 nominations for Newbury, Camden, and Windsor projects, with a total of 4 wins.
The HAVAN Awards for Housing Excellence continue to be a beacon of excellence in the homebuilding industry, celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and innovation in Metro Vancouver’s housing market. HAVAN looks forward to seeing more works of members that embrace high-performance, the latest in design trends, and cutting-edge technologies such as mass timber construction which will be showcased in the 2025 HAVAN Awards for Housing Excellence.
The complete list of winners and photos of the projects are available at https://havan.ca/awards.
We would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of the HAVAN Awards for Housing Excellence.
For the 15th consecutive year, FortisBC is the Presenting Sponsor, with BC Housing as the Patron Sponsor.
Gold Sponsor: Vicostone Canada, Pacific Art Stone and RBC Royal Bank
Silver sponsors: Cantu Bathrooms & Hardware Ltd., E3 Eco Group, Midland Appliance, Trail Appliances
Bronze sponsors: Associa British Columbia Inc., Dick’s Lumber & Building Supplies, FloForm Countertops with Cosentino, MNP LLP, Nucor Rebar Fabrication
Print Sponsor: Minuteman Press Surrey
Audit Sponsor: 777 Eccounting Systems Inc.
Videography Sponsor: 360hometours.ca
Legal Sponsor: Kuhn LLP
Red Carpet Reception: MIRA Floors & Interiors
Gala Sponsors: Home Depot, Caesarstone Canada and Colonial Countertops
Supporting Sponsors: BCIT, Cambria, Convoy Supply, Federated Insurance Company of Canada, Westeck Windows Mfg. Inc.
Media sponsors: Boulevard Magazine, NextHome, Reno + Décor, Vancouver Sun and The Province, Western Living magazine, Build Magazine
I would also like to thank our volunteers who worked with HAVAN staff to help make the presentation of the awards a professional and high-class event, and a big shout out to HAVAN staff who worked hard to ensure a well-received and successful event. Special mention goes to Wendy McNeil and Justine Nadia for leading the entire team through the galaxies over the past 10 months.
The complete HAVAN Awards Flickr photo album featuring the red-carpet photos compliments of 360HomeTours.ca will be released in Wednesday’s Member Connections email and online. Be sure to tag us @HAVANofficial and we will help spread your news!
Call for entries for the 2025 HAVAN Awards for Housing Excellence will open October 29, 2024.
HAVAN continues to work with CHBA BC and CHBA to advocate for all levels of government to work together to address the challenges of the housing industry including zoning restrictions, density limits, and NIMBYism.
Looking to stay up-to-date on Metro Vancouver’s residential housing industry? Sign up for Ron’s weekly Monday Morning Briefing and other HAVAN emails here.
QUICK BITES:
- We have often been highlighting the success of our “Measure Twice – Cut Once” podcasts and last week our podcast efforts were acknowledged in the Surrey-Now Leader. With 20,000 downloads and Youtube videos averaging 13,000 views per episode, MTCO continues to connect members with homeowners.
- In the pursuit of new technologies could transparent solar panels be the basis of the next generation of windows. Tech like this would contribute to reaching Net Zero targets.
- The Globe and Mail in this article echoes the sentiments expressed in the MMB before in regard to how “gentle density” with infill homes and or multiplexes will contribute to the housing issue but will not be the silver bullet!
- This piece in the Real Estate News Exchange features the innovative project being pursued in Penticton by HAVAN Member and recent Legends panelist Charan Sethi and his son Rocky Sethi. The comprehensive mixed use project uses the resources of both Rocky’s Stryke Group and Charan’s Tien Sheir Group companies and the $900 million project will feature will feature 13 buildings, including condos, rental residential, senior living, office and retail space along with a hotel, public gathering spaces and bike and walking trails. Well done gentlemen.
- The most recent Housing Market Index from CHBA National for the first quarter of 2024 reflects a continuing negative outlook on the part of builder members nationally but it is hoped this will begin to reverse as interest rates ease and legislative initiatives that support housing production begin to take hold.
