← IshaanEx Portfolio CONCEPT DESIGN · Not a real business
Burnaby · Design-and-build studio

A renovation studio
for the home you've been
describing for years.

Drawn, costed, and built under one roof. Burnaby studio, working across Greater Vancouver.

See the work → Begin a project
120+
Sample projects
14
Years building
8
People in the studio

Atelier Northwest is a small renovation studio. Eight people, one office in Burnaby, one quote with a line item per finish. We draw the project, cost the project, and build the project — there is no general contractor and no design firm in between, because we are both.

Signature project · Capitol Hill
Sample

The wall came down. The kitchen turned to face the inlet.

Capitol Hill Kitchen — finished, looking west.
Capitol Hill Kitchen — gutted state, before framing.
2024 · gutted
2025 · finished

Capitol Hill Kitchen, Burnaby · 2025 · Sample project — concept site, not a real renovation. Galley to open kitchen, white oak rift-cut cabinetry, Calacatta Viola marble, brass cup pulls, plaster range hood. Drag the handle, or scroll to compare.

Edgemont Whole-Home — exterior at golden hour.
About the studio

Renovation as quiet conversation

"The best renovations are not statements about the architect. They are quiet conversations between the house, the people who live in it, and the climate they live in."

Atelier Northwest is a small design-and-build studio in Burnaby, BC. Eight people, one office, one phone number. We draw the project, we cost the project, and we build the project. The same hand that holds the pencil tightens the brass screws on handover day. No general contractor, no design firm in the middle, no allowances on the quote.

Drawn before it is costed

Six to ten weeks of measured drawings before the first number is written down. The drawings are the moment to change your mind.

One quote, one line per finish

Cabinetry, marble, taps, paint — listed and priced separately. No allowances, no "we'll-figure-it-out" line items.

Built by the people who drew it

Drawn, costed, and built under one roof. The pencil and the hammer are in the same studio.

What the studio builds

Renovation, drawn and built.

Six things the studio is set up to do well. Whole-home renovations are most of our work.

01

Kitchens

The room you cook in deserves more than a flip. Custom cabinetry, stone, plaster hoods, the brass that makes a kitchen feel finished rather than installed.

02

Bathrooms

The room you start and end the day in. Heated floors, plaster walls, unlacquered brass, the small permanences of daily life.

03

Whole-home renovations

Most of our work. Drawn over six to ten weeks, built over four to nine months, lived in for decades.

04

Additions

A new floor, a new wing. Permitted, drawn, costed, and built — all by the studio.

05

ADUs

Detached suites, laneway homes. Drawn around the trees that are already on the lot, not the other way around.

06

Custom millwork

Built-ins, libraries, dressing rooms. Drawn to the half-millimetre, built in the shop, installed in a morning.

White oak rift-cut
Unlacquered brass
Plaster walls
Calacatta Viola
Board-form concrete
Standing-seam zinc
White oak rift-cut
Unlacquered brass
Plaster walls
Calacatta Viola
Board-form concrete
Standing-seam zinc
Selected work

Three sample projects, three neighbourhoods.

Concept site — these are sample projects drawn for the portfolio, not real renovations. Each one shows how the studio works at a different scale.

Capitol Hill Kitchen
Burnaby · Kitchen · 2025Sample

Capitol Hill Kitchen

Galley to open kitchen. White oak, Calacatta Viola, brass. Drawn February, finished July.

 Edgemont Whole-Home
North Van · Whole-homeSample

Edgemont Whole-Home

1962 split-level taken to the studs. Drawn six weeks, built eight months.

 Sapperton ADU
New West · ADUSample

Sapperton ADU

720 sq ft detached suite, drawn around a single cedar.
How a project gets built

Drawn. Costed. Built. Lived in.

01

Drawn

Six to ten weeks of measured drawings. The moment to change your mind.

02

Costed

One quote, one line item per finish. No allowances, no "figure it out later."

03

Built

Demolition week one. Drop sheets, dust barriers, daily site sweep. Inspectable.

04

Finished

Walk the room with you the day before move-in. List every snag. Fix every snag.

05

Lived in

Six months after move-in we come back. Adjust everything that needs adjusting, no charge.

Sample voices

What the homeowners say.

"They drew the kitchen for ten weeks before they wrote a single number down. The number they wrote was the number we paid. The kitchen is the room I described to them in February, only better."

MR
M. Reyes · Sample

Capitol Hill Kitchen, Burnaby

"The same person who drew our floor plan answered the phone the day a delivery was late. There's no general contractor, no design firm — just the studio. It changes how the project feels."

JT
J. Tan & D. Hayashi · Sample

Edgemont Whole-Home, North Van

"They drew the ADU around the cedar that was already on our lot, not the other way around. Six months in they came back, tightened the cabinet hinges, and left."

SK
S. Khoury · Sample

Sapperton ADU, New West

Sample · Western Living
Designers of the Year 2024
Sample · Georgie Awards
Custom Renovation 2023
Sample · BC Wood
Heritage Project 2024
Sample · Robert Ledingham
Memorial Award 2025
Sample · Vancouver House
& Home Annual 2024
Studio journal

Notes from the workbench.

Read the journal →
MaterialsFeb 2025

Why we specify unlacquered brass — and what to expect in year three

Lacquered brass looks the same on day one and day one thousand. Unlacquered brass remembers. A note on patina, fingerprints, and the small permanences of daily life.

Read the note
ProcessJan 2025

The drawings are the moment to change your mind

Six to ten weeks of measured drawings before the first number is written down. We answer the question of why the studio costs after the drawings, not before.

Read the note
Site notesDec 2024

What "design-and-build under one roof" means in practice

The hand that holds the pencil tightens the brass screws on handover day. A short note on what that does to schedule, budget, and the phone calls in week six.

Read the note
Begin a project

Tell us about the room.

Most projects start with an email and a few photos. We'll come out, measure, listen, and write back inside a week with whether the studio is the right fit. The studio takes on roughly twelve renovations a year.

Studio phone

604 · 555 · 0100

Studio

4188 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC V5C 2J3 (sample address)

Hours

Tuesday – Saturday, 9 to 5

Start the conversation

Sample form — submissions are not received. Designed to show the field set we'd use in production.

Thank you. We'll write back inside a week. (Sample form — no email was actually sent.)
Ready when you are

Begin a project.

Twelve renovations a year. The studio takes the next one in roughly eight weeks.

Start the conversation →