JULY 2026 and they run with it from there.” A recent project called Lakeshore Residence illustrates how all of these values come together. Located just off the water in Mississauga, the home was designed for clients of Middle Eastern heritage who wanted the building to evoke, in some way, the stone ruins held in their cultural memory. The exterior palette – stone, blackened wood, and rusted steel – was chosen to feel elemental, authentic, and deeply rooted in place. “It feels real, foundational,” Nathan says. “Elemental.” What made the project particularly memorable was the active role the clients played in shaping the final design. “The design was in many ways led by the client herself,” Nathan explains. At one point, she responded to a stone detail Nathan had developed and pushed it further – proposing a variation that was rougher and more textured than his original. “She came up with a detail of her own, replacing my detail. I loved my detail, but she made something even better.” The builder on that project was Easton Homes, and Nathan says their input was just as valuable – he describes them as “integral to every part of the process,” and he says their relationship was defined by “collaboration and friendliness and cheerfulness.” As a result of that relationship, he says they were able to achieve a result that exceeded everyone’s expectations. “Of course I’m proud of all of our work,” Nathan says, “but I’m as proud of this project as any we’ve ever done. I’m thrilled to have been a part of it. I think the same goes for everyone who worked on it.” Moving forward, BLDG Workshop’s vision is to do more homes of that scope and calibre. They also hope to keep growing, particularly in terms of their geographic reach. To that end, Nathan – originally from BC – has been recently pursuing more work in the Okanagan, Revelstoke, and Golden. The firm is also targeting growth in Ontario’s Muskoka region, drawn by the natural landscape that so naturally feeds their design sensibility. As for the size of the firm, Nathan has a clear vision – he’d like to grow from seven people to around fifteen. At that scale, he believes BLDG Workshop would be able to deliver its best work more consistently – and more quickly. “One thing we hear a lot from both builders and clients is, ‘there’s enough money here, but we need to make sure the time works,’” he says. “So we want to be able to do really great, thoughtful work in a timely fashion. That’s the goal.” What will not change, however, is the kind of work BLDG Workshop wants to be doing. “We would just like to be doing work that feels like it matters,” Nathan concludes. “We want to do work that matters to us, matters to our clients, and matters to the builders that are building it.”
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