Building homes to last a lifetime
By: Mudeeha Yousaf
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Signature Homes — a Manitoban home builder has provided design, technical and management services to the Canadian housing sector for over 35 years and now builds quality homes that are reasonably priced and dedicated to long-term longevity with energy efficiency in mind. The company is successfully servicing the Winnipeg home buyers’ market through fine craftsmanship and a detail-oriented philosophy.
Rubin Diamond, President and Owner, graduated with a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Manitoba in 1957 and has been active within the Winnipeg Housing market since then and has served as President of the Manitoba Housing Builder Association and as a member of the Canadian Housing Design Council. The single-family house builder expanded business into Western Canada and the United States, but has only been developing properties in Winnipeg as of late. “The Winnipeg market in the last number of years has been booming, and one of the reasons is because of the availability of building lots throughout the city,” says Diamond. “We’re different because we want to limit our production for quality control, so we only operate in one end of the city.”
The company finds a niche in Southwestern Winnipeg and in two large developments which comprise a healthy portion of the volume of housing built in Winnipeg. Bridgwater Forest, the first of the developments, is home to over 70 acres of open space and surrounded by natural beauty, making it the perfect atmosphere for new home buyers. Signature Homes provides architecturally detailed dwellings that complement the cozy atmosphere for long-term living. Similarly, South Pointe consists of 450 acres of mixed-use development and is a central location for multi-family development known for its composite and unique area.
The corporation’s foundation was built on providing energy efficient homes and this has led to the winning of many government and industry awards. Their ‘Signature’ style is transferred to every home designed and executed and uses the highest level of modern materials that results in less dust and more infiltration and heat loss. “We started off as a leader in energy efficient homes, dating back to 1982. A primary reason was the University of Saskatchewan had a project with the National Research Council for building energy efficient homes, and we built one of the first super energy efficient homes in Winnipeg,” says Diamond. “A lot of the techniques that were developed – the super sealing and high insulation values – were passed onto our regular housing and is still being implemented. The rest of Canada has caught up with that now.” The company’s staple Custom Crafted Series and Tiffany Series personify their super energy efficiency with its thermal crafted mark, and utilize some of the best windows and technology in the world. The company has in the past built over 70 homes in Manitoba that focused on super energy efficiency.
“Winnipeg’s housing sector has done really well recently. Last year there were 1,500 single family detached homes, and about 900 attached homes. The Manitoba Government has been instrumental in bringing in immigrants from selected areas in a sponsorship program. This has helped to fuel housing which has risen since then,” comments Diamond. “The process of mortgaging and qualifying people for housing is far more controlled in Canada. We had no housing bubble even though the markets in Vancouver and Toronto have been over heating because of condo housing, but this isn’t the case in Winnipeg or any part of Western Canada.”
Signature Homes continues to strive within Winnipeg’s competitive industry and has achieved a Master Building rating as well as Certified Housing Professional status. Diamond closes, “we want to maintain the quality of the housing that we’re striving for now, to continually improve and introduce new plans.”
For more information on Signature Homes, visit www.signaturehomes.info
