The Construction Source

MARCH 2021 frequently refer their family and friends. Dan says they have one particular “tree of referrals” that goes eight families deep. “We had one client come to us, then her assistant came to us, then the assistant’s cousins came our way, and somehow we got connected with their uncle, and he owned a barber- shop in East Edmonton,” he recalls. “We did his house, and then we did all his drawings for his barber-shop.” While the firm mainly focuses on residential work, they do take on the occasional commercial job like that barber-shop. Dan says those jobs are almost always similarly generated. “We’ve done somewhere between 15 to 20 vet clinics in Edmonton and the surrounding areas,” Dan explains. “We’ve recently done eight cannabis shops. We’ve also done a lot of physiotherapy clinics. Those are all through referrals. We do one vet, or one cannabis shop, and then they pass our name on to the next guy.” Referrals and word-of-mouth is also how DRAW Designs has come to do so much work in Fort McMurray since the wildfire. Dan estimates that they have designed and drawn over 100 houses in the area since, including their largest home to date. That large home – which came in at roughly 28,000 square feet – is actually a strong example of all of the firm’s points of difference in action. There, they showcased their ability to draw anddesign something beautiful, buildable, and personal in a short timeframe, after picking