JWT Architecture

James designed our home in Squamish. Not a day goes by where we do not love our home. We hope to one day design and build another home so that we can work with James again!

We love our home and so does everyone who comes to visit. It's small without being tiny, gets flooded with natural light, has the warmth of the wood and is energy efficient. We'd seen James work magic with a small space in "inlaws, outlaws and granny flats" and were really impressed - from that first meeting when some of his portfolio photos showed exactly what we had in mind to later on in the design process when he juggled things around and it suddenly all clicked! It was important for us to work with professionals who shared our values and James was a great fit. And as icing on the cake he is a landscape architect too so he gave us a plan for incorporating native plantings, food growing and privacy screening.

Four stars, only because I'd probably never give more to anyone -- no one is perfect -- but this is the fourth major project I've done with an architect, and James is the best yet. He combines a wonderful aesthetic (what attracted me to him originally; if you don't like it, don't pick him!) with a practicality and humility rather rare in architects of his calibre. Like all top architects, he has an eye on his portfolio and publications in magazines (quite a few of those so far) and of course wants to do things eye-popping and original. But he cheerfully backs off when you tell him an idea is outside the budget or might not work out so well on the practical level. He's also a very warm and friendly guy and fun to work with.

We workes with James to design our family recreational home on Bowen. He is very talented and has a patient, respectful and collaborative approach with clients. He managed to balance the desires of the many members of our family (7 adults, and 5 very young kids who contributed comments reflecting their dreams too!). We each had our own ideas. He married them all and created something we all loved.

James designed my new house in Squamish BC, and I'm thrilled with the result. He worked closely with me until the design was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you, James!

We recently moved into the home that James Tuer designed for us and we could not be happier with it. James incorporated every aspect of our wish list into the house and achieved precisely the style and feel that we were after. Our objective had been to create a relatively small home with an efficient use of space and a feeling of warmth and coziness. We also wanted the house to somehow feel spacious, to capture views and to transition naturally into the surrounding forests and mountains. Somehow, it does all of these things and is also beautiful to look at. Throughout the design process, James was responsive to our questions, timely with his various sets of revised drawings and always available for phone or in-person meetings. Once we started construction, he remained available and responsive and offered valuable insights and ideas for innovation. He provided good guidance on where money should be saved as opposed to spent and was well connected with the cost impacts of various decisions. In spite of the many challenges of building a home, watching the design come to life has been exciting and hugely gratifying. Choosing James to design our home was the best decision we made throughout the project.

I thought I would add a review to JWT Architecture and James Tuer based on some questions another person emailed me, with regards to working with James. TL;DNR version: Yes, James is great to work with. 1. Would you work with James again? We worked with James twice, once on our ski house at in the interior of BC, and then again to build our house in Vancouver. We probably won’t be building anything more for a while, but if we did we would certainly consider working with him again. 2. Did he respect your budget? Did you end up going over budget or meet your goals? Yes. First of all he was considerably less expensive than another architect we tried to work with. Then he was much more responsive in terms of trying to get us to our budget amount. No architect is perfect in this area, it is important to get a builder involved and a costing estimate up and running as soon as possible. Budgets are hard. 3. Did he listen well to your needs? Yes. He is very personable and we had a good rapport. He responded well to feedback and is very solutions oriented. 4. When you were confused or stumped on elements of your house design did he make it easy to solve the issues and if so were you happy with his solutions? James is very creative. Yes. We love the houses that he created for us. 5. Now that you have been in your home for a while are you happy with it or would you have done things differently? It is always possible to think of new solutions once you live in a place for a while, but overall, we were very happy with both the houses he designed for us. 6. Did your builder have any issues with the plans that James drew up? Not on our house in Vancouver. When we did our house at the ski area, the builder was not experienced at custom homes, so he was little baffled by the scope and complexity of what James presented him. This was the builders fault, not James’s. Short summary, you need a good builder. A good builder shouldn’t have a problem with the plans, because James is thorough and detailed. 7. If so did the drawings James prepare lead to any unnecessary complications or expenses for the builder to translate into reality for you? I was on site almost daily in the construction period of our new house. (not the Sun Peaks one though). I talked to all the framers, electricians, plumbers and other sub contractors regularly. The only time I heard the framers grumble was about a non-square aspect of our laneway house. One wall was off angle by 5 degrees. In retrospect, I would have gone with a square instead. It wasn’t a big deal, for the framers in the end, and my wife likes the way it expands the space in the laneway. 8. Do you feel that he captured the best possible elements of your lot? I.e. views, daylight, privacy etc… Yes, James, probably because of his landscape architecture experience, is very aware of site placement, lines of sight, what you are seeing out the windows, bringing light into the house etc. We love the spaces and views he created with his design. Most people who visit our house are very impressed with the feel of it.

James came up a great design for my property. We are enjoying the home, its special features and beautiful wood theme.

My wife and I engaged James Tuer to design a new front to our beach front home in Tsawwassen, BC. We had often admired James’s work when passing a house he had designed in Vancouver and were very pleased that he would work with us. James is a great person to work with. He is a friendly, happy and enthusiastic person. He engaged us fully in the planning of our project, took our feedback seriously and listened to our viewpoints. James was always available to speak with us on site, by phone or by e mail. He worked efficiently and always to our schedule. Moreover, James knows a lot about construction and stayed on top of our project from start to finish. He established excellent working relations with our contractor, his employees and the many subcontractors who worked on our project. James was particularly effective when adapting his designs to the realities of our lot including its grading, its established plants and trees and its exposure to weather patterns. He always explained necessary design changes fully and sought our input and feedback. James’s design was tremendous. He literally transformed an unattractive, run of the mill front yard into a beautiful multi level installation. He showed great skill in combining different design features and materials – concrete, trees, flowers, grasses, boulders - into a coherent whole. His redesign of the front of our home skilfully accentuated the lines of our residence and made it even more appealing. Since completion of the “makeover”, James Tuer’s work at our home has received much praise from neighbours and from many passersby. Among many other compliments, our home has been called “beautiful”, “calming” and “an oasis of quiet”. Remarkably, the new garden, stairs, trees, grasses, flowers and walls have led to a major increase in the bee and hummingbird populations! Thank you James.

Our waterfront, island property in Howe Sound was our favourite refuge from the city for 8 years before we finally decided to build a cabin. James won us over immediately with his relaxed, attentive approach, and his excellent understanding of what is truly important to people who value their natural environments. Seven years later, we are finally building this home, and it's stunning. I can't thank James enough for giving us this beautiful space that we could never have imagined on our own. (We are currently under construction, so photos represent a work in progress)