Starnet Honours Winnipeg Companies with Awards
Antex Western was the big Canadian winner at this year’s Starnet Design Awards.
The Winnipeg-headquartered company received the gold award in the Canadian Project of the Year category for its work on École Sage Creek Bonavista.
The project (pictured above) was not a standard school flooring installation. Throughout the building, the flooring design incorporates intricate layouts with organic and floral-inspired patterns that move naturally throughout corridors and learning areas. These patterns required careful planning, precise layout and consistent execution, as even small inaccuracies would have been noticeable across the large, open spaces.
The design inspiration came from the colours and landscape of the Prairies. Each of the learning communities in the school features a different native plant, in colours that are reflective of the prairie sunset. These patterns and colours help to provide students with a sense of belonging and identity. The finished floors add warmth, softness and character, helping the school feel welcoming rather than institutional.
With nearly 900 students using the facility daily, durability was a constant consideration. The flooring systems were installed to withstand heavy traffic while maintaining clean transitions, consistent alignment and long-term performance across more than approximately 103,000 square feet. Achieving this required close coordination with other trades and a hands-on presence throughout the project.
In select high-use areas, Altro Whiterock wall protection was installed. This allowed the clean, intentional design of the flooring to continue up the walls while providing a durable, easy-to-maintain surface well-suited to an active learning environment.
Other products used include Gerflor Symbioz and Affinity sheet vinyl, Tarkett Deso carpet tile, Contour luxury vinyl tile, Milliken Obex CutX bar and tile, and Tarkett base and accessories.
Also headquartered in Winnipeg, The Floor Show, a division of Qualico Developments, is the runner-up, receiving the silver award for its work on the addition at Bethesda Regional Health Centre. The two-level expansion to the existing, 1960s-built facility consists of 15 private inpatient rooms on the main floor, seven of which are enhanced for palliative care, three operating theatres, a laboratory, patient lounge, spiritual room and dedicated staff entry.
Flooring selections include the use of heterogeneous vinyl sheet with a wood-look finish in palliative care rooms, helping to create a warm, comforting and home-like environment. This choice supports a more residential atmosphere while still providing the durability, cleanability and infection-control performance required in a healthcare setting. Wayfinding cues were created using homogeneous vinyl sheet flooring with organic, soft-curved coloured patterns placed at key points in the corridors to guide family and visitors toward department entries or nursing care desks.
Grand Valley Tile & Flooring is the bronze award winner for its work on Aspira Brants Landing, a retirement community and long-term care facility in Brantford, Ont. The largest challenges for the Kitchener, Ont.-based company was the vast number of flooring and tile SKUs, and large volume of welded and flash coved sheet vinyl, which required specialized installation skills. Despite this, the project was delivered on time and on budget.
Presented during Starnet Commercial Flooring Partnership’s annual conference, April 23-26, in Aventura, Fla., the Starnet Design Awards honour projects that showcase excellence in flooring design and installation. Gold, silver and bronze winners are 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 contends for the overall Starnet grand prize award.
This year, the grand prize was presented to James Floor Covering for its work at the F1 Arcade in Philadelphia. The 19,200-square-foot empty retail shell was transformed into an immersive destination where racing, dining and nightlife collide. Central to the project is the custom flooring installation, which plays a defining role in shaping both the atmosphere and spatial experience. Rather than serving as a passive surface, the flooring was strategically designed and executed to organize the layout, guide circulation and create pockets of semi-private zones throughout the venue.
Through precise layouts, custom cuts and intentional pattern transitions, the flooring delineates racing bays, bar areas, dining zones and social gathering spaces without the need for physical barriers. These subtle divisions maintain visual openness while enhancing functionality and flow — mirroring the precision and discipline inherent in Formula 1 racing.
Material selection and detailing were carefully coordinated to reflect the high-octane, nightlife-driven identity of the brand. Clean lines, sharp transitions and exacting tolerances reinforce the venue’s modern performance-forward aesthetic, while durability and finish consistency ensure the flooring performs under heavy foot traffic and dynamic lighting conditions.