Three Canadian Companies Win Starnet Design Awards
Surrey, B.C.-based Maxwell Floors took home Canadian Project of the Year at the 2025 Starnet Design Awards for its flooring installation at Dogwood Care Home, a 150-bed long-term care facility in Vancouver, that’s organized into 11 separate houses with shared amenity and support service areas.
The project was also the bronze winner in both the healthcare and unique installation challenge categories.
The design team, led by DYS Architecture, envisioned a flooring solution that balanced practicality with aesthetic appeal. The goal was to create a homelike atmosphere while ensuring the floors could handle the rigorous demands of a care facility, including high foot traffic, the use of mobility aids and frequent cleaning. Flooring materials were selected to offer a soft, non-intrusive look that complemented the overall design of the care home while prioritizing safety and ease of maintenance.
A highlight of the new care home is the ‘sacred room,’ developed in collaboration with the Musqueam Indian Band to provide residents a space to help them address the profound thoughts and feelings that can arise at times of significant illness and trauma. It features an in-floor custom native logo that demanded a significant amount of skill to install. The process required the architectural design to be transferred to a template on the floor by tracing. Pre-cut inset pieces were then matched and inlaid. Once completed, the field flooring was installed and seamed together to create an infectious control barrier. Throughout, a number of accents were meticulously cut by hand. Insets were computer jet-cut and assembled by hand for installation, too.
Other Canadian companies that proved triumphant at the awards ceremony are Antex Western and Couvre-Planchers Labrosse. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Antex Western took home gold in the healthcare category for its work at Ksyen Regional Hospital in Terrance, B.C., formerly known as Mills Memorial Hospital. Laval, Que.-based Couvre-Planchers Labrosse was the gold winner in the single-source interior contractor category for the flooring installation at Good News Chapel in Montreal.
Presented during Starnet Commercial Flooring Partnership‘s annual conference, April 24-27, in Carlsbad, Calif., the Starnet Design Awards honour projects that showcase excellence in flooring design and installation. Eligible projects must have been substantially completed in 2024, by the organization’s members in partnership with architects, designers and commercial flooring brands throughout Canada and the United States.
Gold, silver and bronze winners were selected by a panel of judges in eight categories, including corporate, education, healthcare, hospitality/public space, mixed-use developments, single-source interior contractor, unique installation and Canadian project. Each gold category winner contended for the overall 2025 Starnet grand prize award.
This year, the grand prize was presented to Universal Metro for its involvement in the renovation of Murrieta Hot Springs Resort, a spa destination in southern California.