he explains. “That’s one reason I’m excited. The other reason is the mix of unit types. We have residential and we have commercial, and the commercial is very diverse. We have a daycare, we have a lawyer’s office, we have a nail salon, we have a massage parlor – it’s a very interesting variety.” Songlin is also excited by the client, and how committed they are to making the project great: “They’re not the kind of client that just wants to get the cost as low as possible,” Songlin says. “They want to spend some money to make the project unique and attractive. They want to make a really positive impact on the neighborhood. That’s always exciting for an architect.” Construction on the Altitude Condo was originally intended to commence in February last year, but was interrupted by the onset of COVID-19. Fortunately, sales have recently resumed, and construction is on track to begin again by the end of the year. Songlin is excited to see the project finally come to fruition. Moving forward, Songlin is also excited to take on more largescale projects like Altitude, and to continue growing his company – though he doesn’t yet know how big he wants to get. The firm’s current plan is to launchanewoffice inNorthwest Edmonton later this year, and they are actively looking to add members to their team to fill that space. Songlin believes the firm has lots of room to grow, but that’s dependant on finding the right people. Those people have to hard-working, reliable, and they have to dedicate themselves to servicing clients the right way – otherwise, Songlin says, growing is not worth it. “For us, it’ll always be about the client and about the service we provide,” he concludes. “That’s not going to change.” SEPTEMBER 2021
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