Forte Projects is our builder partner bringing Western’s thermally modified Hem-Fir into its first Vancouver residential pilot. Forte is helping translate the design vision into a built application that tests the material in a real home environment. Through this collaboration, Forte is helping demonstrate how locally grown and thermally modified wood can be integrated into residential construction.
Our construction partner for the Vancouver house pilot.
Forte Projects is the builder behind Western’s local Vancouver house pilot, helping bring thermally modified Hem-Fir from product development into a real residential application.
Led by Babak Nikraftar, founder of Forte Projects, the Vancouver-based firm brings a builder’s perspective shaped by years of hands-on construction experience. Babak’s early career in building envelope work gave him a close understanding of how design decisions, material choices, and workmanship influence the long-term performance of a home.
“At Forte Projects, we are always looking at how materials perform once they become part of the building envelope. Details like moisture management, fastening, sequencing, and long-term movement all matter in how a home performs over time. This pilot gives us the opportunity to bring that practical, technical lens to Western’s thermally modified Hem-Fir and help explore how it can be thoughtfully detailed and installed in residential construction.”
– Babak Nikraftar, Founder of Forte Projects
Babak Nikraftar, Founder of Forte Projects
A Builder’s Perspective
Forte Projects focuses on new builds and major renovations, with experience in detailed residential construction, high-performance homes, Passive House and net zero standards, heritage restorations, challenging sites, and energy-efficient building systems. The firm’s work sits at the intersection of design intent and technical execution, the place where good ideas become livable, lasting homes.
That builder’s lens is essential to Western’s thermally modified Hem-Fir pilot. A new exterior wood product is not fully understood through samples or drawings alone. It needs to move through the practical steps of construction: delivery, handling, layout, cutting, fastening, finishing, protection, installation, and integration with the home’s exterior detailing.
Testing Thermally Modified Hem-Fir in a Home Environment
For the local Vancouver house pilot, Western’s thermally modified Hem-Fir will be featured as the exterior cladding for the home. Forte Projects has also brought Western into the project development process through its online client portal, giving the team visibility into the day-to-day progress of the build.
Grounding the Pilot in Buildability
Forte’s role is to ground the pilot in buildability. Working alongside Leckie Studio’s architectural vision, the Forte team will help bring the cladding into real construction conditions, resolving the details that become critical when a material moves from R&D into a home.
For Western, this is exactly the kind of learning that makes pilot projects valuable. Thermally modified Hem-Fir is being developed from coastal British Columbia Hem-Fir for exterior and interior appearance-grade applications. Its warmth, tone, grain, and natural variation make it especially relevant for homes where wood is meant to shape the exterior character, not simply cover a surface.
“Working with Forte Projects gives Western a clearer understanding of what builders need when a new material enters residential use. As a manufacturer, this pilot provides a valuable opportunity to learn directly from the field, from finishing and site handling to installation details and the technical support that may be needed for future projects.”
– Ara Koh, Market Intelligence Manager, Western Forest
From Possibility to Practice
The collaboration also reflects a broader goal: bringing local wood innovation into homes through strong project teams. With Leckie Studio leading the design and Forte Projects leading the build, Western’s thermally modified Hem-Fir can be studied where its performance is most meaningful: on a real home, under real construction conditions.
Through this local house pilot, Forte Projects is helping bring Western’s thermally modified Hem-Fir from possibility into practice, and into the exterior expression of a Vancouver home.
