Renovator RND Construction wins seven trophies
Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ottawa renovation contractor RND Construction led the award-winning recognition at the 41st annual Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) Housing Design Awards on Nov. 2.
The contractor won in categories including custom homes and kitchens, green innovation (one of the business’s focuses) and Custom Builder of the Year – one of the award’s prestige categories. RND has won the custom builder category for the last three years in a row.
“It’s always a thrill to win,” RND owner Roy Nandram told Anita Murray from All Things Homes on Nov. 3. “We need to think about the people who help us win an award: our staff or subtrades; our architects and designers we work with; and, more importantly, we have amazing clients.”
The gala at Rogers Centre Ottawa (formerly the Shaw Centre) attracted a record 760 guests including designers, architects, builders and suppliers (as well as clients) in 54 categories. There were a record 369 entries and 232 finalists.
2024 Housing Design Award winners
“Not only did we have a record number of entries and companies participating, but the quality of entries continues to climb even further, with our members striving to raise the bar even more each year,” awards committee chair Linda Oliveri Blanchard told Murray.
Organizers set an urban graffiti theme for the event, including break dancers, an Airstream RV with signature drinks, record spinners and on-site artists creating works for auction.
“Our goal was to create a fun and exciting event, and I believe we achieved that goal in spades,” said Oliveri Blanchard.
“The annual Housing Design Awards is a chance for us to formally recognize those in the residential construction industry who have demonstrated an exceptionally high level of excellence. Our members design, build and renovate some of the best homes and communities in North America, and this is where we crown the best of the best.”
Entries were judged by 12 industry experts from across the country, who each had certain categories to evaluate in blind judging, Murray reported.
“Overall, I was very impressed with the superior quality, the forward thinking, the beauty of these submissions,” said designer Benjamin John Ouellette of BJOID Inc., who judged the kitchen and bath categories. “Greater Ottawa has absolutely phenomenal talent.”
“I love saturated colours,” Alan Loranger of Towne & Countree Kitchens, who also judged the kitchen and bath categories. “It was nice to see so much texture in materials,” Loranger told Murray.
Significant winners
Nandram’s guests at the awards gala included three sets of clients, some of whom joined the RND team on stage to accept trophies, which he then gave to the clients to take home
RND faced competition from 19 other entries in one category – powder room – and won.
“That was a very special powder room,” he says. “The design was very good, and the quality of the finish, the uniqueness of the powder room, I think, made it win.”
“It’s a small and mighty room,” Loranger said. “It’s the only room in your house where your guests will be all by themselves.”
Three companies each won five awards: Hobin Architecture, Laurysen Kitchens and Cedar Ridge Designs & Custom Cabinetry.
Two of Hobin’s wins were for the Peridot infill development near the Experimental Farm (new community and for its production home category), while Cedar Ridge also had a double win for a custom home with RND (the powder room winner and the home’s kitchen) and Laurysen had a double win with Minto Communities and Tanya Collins Design for the kitchen and ensuite of last year’s CHEO lottery dream home, Murray wrote.
“We’re very, very happy with the results, says Laurysen’s vice-president of sales and marketing, Corey Laurysen. On having a balance between kitchen and bathroom wins, as well as custom versus production, he noted: “It just really represents us well and shows what’s possible with Laurysen … It doesn’t matter what type of project it is; we can find a solution.”
Shean Architects was named designer of the year, overcoming competition from 11 other entries. Amsted Design-Build won the Renovator of the Year category for a record 11th time.
Amsted owner Steve Barkhouse expressed gratitude. “Grateful to see a record turnout to the event and a record number of fantastic submissions,”he told Murray. “Grateful to be pushed harder every year by our strong competition…:
“Grateful to have had a front row seat for the past 35 years to watch these incredible people and their businesses grow. This is a tough business and these are tough, creative, strong and generous people that are the fabric of our community.
“Grateful to know that the Amsted team belongs here. And grateful to have so many wonderful friends that I have made, working with and competing against for 35 years.”
Minto Communities Ottawa took home four awards including Production Builder of the Year and three individual awards for the 2023 Minto Dream Home (The Equestrian), designed and built for CHEO’s Dream of a Lifetime Lottery.
The company has won the production builder award five times in recent years. “Winning this award is a great honour and a testament to the dedication and value Minto Communities brings to the city, homeowners, and the CHEO Foundation,” Minto said in a statement.
GOHBA also awarded the developer with:
- Innovation Award: Production Home of the Year with Tanya Collins Design and ASL Agrodrain Limited—received for The Equestrian’s unique geothermal heating and cooling technology
- Best Production Kitchen (251 sq. ft. or more) with Tanya Collins Design—for The Equestrian
- Best Production Bathroom with Tanya Collins Design—for The Equestrian
The 2023 Minto Dream Home is in the Mahogany community in Manotick, built by Minto Communities’ product design team, led by product development manager Karen van der Velden, in partnership with Tanya Collins Design.
The 2023 Minto Dream Home is described as “modern equestrian” with Arts & Crafts exterior design elements and a blend of modern and classic interior design. The home sits on a semi-private cul-de-sac lot backing onto protected green space. The four-bedroom floor plan delivers more than 4,200 sq. ft. of interior space, plus a three-season patio with nearly 150 sq. ft. A network of partners helped contribute décor, furnishings, landscaping and materials, Minto says in its statement.
Much material for this article is based on the published report by Anita Murray in All Things Home, also posted on the GOHBA’s website.
Image below is of the All Things Home People’s Choice Award, won by custom builder Modello Homes for a modern farmhouse bungalow loft in an estate subdivision. This is the only trophy that is determined by public vote.
