AUGUST 2026 Ontario. Their work spans a wide range in both scale and type, from small residential additions all the way up to large commercial developments. The scope of what Imagine takes on has grown considerably since the company’s early days. Lester started out focused on residential design, and over time the firm expanded naturally into commercial work as well. The company now moves fluidly between the two sectors. Within the same week, for example, the team recently designed a garden shed while also being deep into the planning stages of a 120,000-square-foot tractor dealership – one of the largest projects Imagine has undertaken to date. No matter the project size, Lester believes clients are drawn to Imagine for the same few reasons. One of the main reasons is their aforementioned balance of artistry with technical knowledge. Where many designers think purely in terms of aesthetics, Lester thinks simultaneously about buildability and cost. “Sometimes I shoot my own ideas down before they go anywhere,” he explains, “because I think about it and realize ‘That’s going to be a nightmare to build.’ It’s not going to be efficient and effective. Then I really drill down and realize we can get 90 per cent of the architectural value out of a design by doing it a different way, and we can do it at a fraction of the cost. I don’t think a lot of designers think that way.”
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