Challenging times call for resolute leadership. Tough problems call for innovative solutions. As Edmonton slowly raises itself from the lockdown, those are the traits that the city’s homebuilding industry believe they can count on to carry them through.

Edmonton’s new home industry has always proven itself resilient through the economic tumult of the recent past. It has, so far, successfully navigated its way through past difficulties by bringing new and dynamic ideas for homes and communities that address the current and future needs of its buyers; and also providing the leadership that focuses on building and strengthening the bonds of community.

We celebrate three of Edmonton’s own homegrown homebuilding and land development companies that have taken to heart the need for leadership and innovation in the industry, and who in 2020 have made some serious progress in their quest.

Beaverbrook Communities, Coventry Homes and the City of Edmonton through its Blatchford community development have all made significant contributions in breaking through the dark clouds of uncertainty with their strong industry leadership and the award-winning creativity they have shown in their developments.

Innovative community

We start with Beaverbrook Communities of Edmonton, who won the prestigious Global Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) International Award for Planning Excellence for its Hills at Charlesworth community in the city’s southeast. At the virtual award ceremony on April 30, Beaverbrook – the lone representative from Canada – bested eight other finalists from China, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, India and Ireland.

The RTPI Awards are the longest running and considered the most highly regarded awards in the industry. The awards champion the very best examples of global planning and planners.

The Hills of Charlesworth won for its Sustainability Plaza that Beaverbrook designed with Stantec Consulting Ltd. The plaza is designed as an eco-friendly recreation hub that serves as a shared environment for residents who get to enjoy its solar-powered playground, an expansive community garden, and even free solar-powered Wi-Fi. It uses repurposed sea-can containers in its construction and even has a 200-metre ice ribbon for winter ice skating.

“International validation from such a prestigious organization like the RTPI is a real validation of the talent and creativity in our company and our city,” says Jodie Wacko, president of Beaverbrook Communities. “It gives potential residents the comfort that Charlesworth is at the forefront of design and creative thinking - thinking beyond pipes and roads – we think about the people who choose to live in our communities and how they can interact and form a connections.”

The Sustainability Plaza brings to life the Hills at Charlesworth’s vision for a low-impact development based on sustainable building principles, which is truly at the heart of everything Beaverbrook Communities does. “We felt it was important to build in environmentally sustainable ideas and demonstrations into Charlesworth so we could show practical and real ways people could adopt a more sustainable way of living.”

The Hills at Charlesworth was launched mid-2016 and is 50 per cent completed.

Dolce Vita Homes, Bedrock Homes and Jayman BUILT are constructing single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes.

Homegrown leadership

No other homebuilder can claim to be as true-blue Edmontonian as Coventry Homes. Led by CEO Henri Rodier, the highly regarded builder has become popular for its Edmonton Oilers-inspired home designs (especially the Oilers-cave developed basements of their show homes) and the community-building leadership it has provided in over four decades in the business.

Those efforts have certainly been noticed, and this year Coventry Homes won the coveted Industry Leadership Award at the 2020 CHBA – Edmonton Region Awards of Excellence in Housing.

“While we are honoured to be recognized in this way,it’s more important for the community that we serve to know of the hard work we put in improving the lives of Edmontonians – not just through the homes that we build – but in strengthening the bonds of the community itself,” Rodier tells Edmonton New Home + Condo Guide.

He emphasizes the Coventry Homes builds for its customers and not for awards, but giving back to the community has always been an integral part of their business. “That’s why we partner with local organizations like the Edmonton Humane Society. A portion of every home sale and the profits from our annual Coventry Homes Paws & Claws Gala provides funding to support homeless pets. This year we celebrated our12th Annual Paws & Claws Gala and marked it with a milestone – we have raised over $1 million to date!”

Rodier is very well aware of the challenges facing the industry today, but he chooses to remain optimistic that hard work and the “we’re all in this together” spirit of the city will see everyone through. “We’ll be in the industry 44 years this June and we’ve seen all the ups and downs but we have managed not just to survive but thrive by adhering to our principles of putting the needs of the community first, by raising morale and self-worth, and getting people involved in the betterment of the community that supports us.”

Coventry Homes currently builds in15 of Edmonton’s new communities offering well-designed, lifestyle-focused single-family and multi-family homes. Rodier knows the value of hard work, having come up from the trades. “I started swinging a hammer a number of years ago,” he says, and he knows that in every challenge there is opportunity.

A focus on people

In Blatchford, the City of Edmonton is setting out on a totally new way to build a community – effectively a second city – in a sustainable, modern, efficient manner, based on a “people first” philosophy.

Blatchford is 536 acres (that’s roughly the same size as Edmonton’s current downtown) that is going up in what used to be Canada’s first municipally-run airfield. Located a few minutes north of downtown and just off the Yellowhead Highway, it is named after former Edmonton mayor Kenneth Blatchford, who played a key role in bringing this airfield to the then young city.

The master planned community will connect homes with shops, great parks, walkable streets and community amenities. “Blatchford is being built on a ‘people-first’ design concept that has a meaningful impact on how people live their daily lives in their neighbourhood,” says Tom Lumsden, Development Manager, Blatchford.

“When you intentionally make choices to design a community around people, you increase the quality of life for those who choose to call the neighbourhood home.”

Blatchford will be home to up to 30,000 Edmontonians living, working and learning in a sustainable community that uses 100 per cent renewable energy, is carbon neutral, significantly reduces its ecological footprint, and empowers residents to pursue a range of sustainable lifestyle choices.

“Blatchford is Edmonton’s most central new community in 100 years. It offers residents thechance to have a new construction home that is located minutes from downtown. And because the community is surrounded by well-established neighbourhoods and businesses, right from day one, residents will have access to already existing services. With two LRT stops right in the community, people will be well-connected to the rest of Edmonton,” Lumsden says.

Homes are selling now in Stage One, with builders that includeEncore Master Builder, Ocheller by Red Brick, Carbon Busters, and Mutti Homes. Find out more in blatchfordedmonton.ca