Our clients always do well in the Georgie Awards, and this year was no exception. In the small pantheon of housing award programs, the deadline for the Georgie Awards is usually first (as the deadlines for the CHBA National Awards, the Ovation Awards, and now the CHBA Fraser Valley awards, among others, happen in subsequent months), so we usually recommend people enter the Georgies first, and then use your Georgie entry to enter everything else, because it means you've already done about 90% of the work to a successful award entry up front.
First-time entrant Mulberry Property Group's Eyremount took home the gold in Custom Home Over $3 Million, and Best Master Suite. This is one of the few cases where good real estate photography will serve you well--almost. While we didn't photograph this project, Susan Boyce and I project-managed the entry, and we provided fill-in photography to cover their excellent kitchen, which their real estate photos didn't do justice (and we subsequently entered in the Ovations).
Infinity's Heritage took home the gold for Multi-Family Townhouse Development and Grand Georgie for Marketing Campaign of the Year. Besides featuring what has to be the cutest little repurposed heritage home sales centre I've seen in ages (now being repurposed for their nearby Belmont phase), if you've been following press coverage of the Georgies, you've probably seen this photo already:
Just add a bottle of wine and some cheese, a few of your favourite neighbours, and...perfect place to spend a summer evening! (We'd have staged that up, but the Georgie photo requirements don't let you show people). When it gets too cold, just retreat to the exquisitely appointed clubhouse to party the night away.
We're especially proud when companies who have never entered before enter and make it to the finals--because for most people outside the building industry, finalist is just as good as winner--you don't get the nifty gold statue for your wall, but you do get the bragging rights and the ability to market yourself as a Georgie finalist, which could well lead to your next project that does bring home a gold statue.
We had a plethora of finalists this year. Project Mint's East Pender gets finalist honours in Best Multi-Family Townhouse - Infill and Best Multi-Family Kitchen. This was Project Mint's inaugural project, and judging from what we've seen from them so far, they're definitely One To Watch.
South Ridge Developments' Life Above, which took home a Custom Home $450K+ a month ago at the CHBA Fraser Valley awards, took home finalist in Best Single Family Kitchen Under $100,000.
There's just something about Fraser Valley kitchens! Linhan Design's Family and Formal placed in the Best Single Family Kitchen Under $100,000 category:
Another first-time entrant Saint Construction landed two projects in the finals. Ross Street Modern placed in Best Residential Reno $300-$499K with one of those projects where you see the "before" images, and you say to yourself: Wow--way to create something awesome out of a 1940's teardown!
Another saintly Saint project, East Van Heritage, landed in Best Residential Reno $500-$799K, with a sensitive addition and refit to a heritage project off Commercial Drive (no, that's not a trick of the lens: the fridge really is that big. We're told they entertain a large family, frequently):
A Best Condominium Renovation Over $250,000 final went to NWI Contracting, another first-time entrant, for this lovely downtown condo:
Finalist honours for Best Master Suite went to the stunningly modern and very cozy Pacific Spirit by Reid Developments:
Hayer's Exchange, a multi-category winner in the CHBA Fraser Valley awards, placed as a finalist for Best Landscape Design--packing a number of lovely features such as rain barrel irrigation, community garden plots and a lot of green onto a dense space, as well as a Grand Georgie - Best Residential Community finalist:
Congratulations, everyone! We're looking forward to seeing many of you at the Ovation Awards in a month, and as this endless winter finally comes to a close and your projects get complete, just remember: starting early for next year is always a good idea! The scheduling is easier, it's cheaper, and we can put you first in line for finishing your writing and awards prep as well as photography the earlier you start.
And if you're one of those who always says "why bother entering, because the usual suspects always win?", we say bollocks! With the large number of first-time entrants doing well, the only way to become an award-winning builder is to go enter and win something, and: you can't win if you don't enter!