Great design tells a story, but Bryan Boutin’s woodworking takes it up a notch: he creates moments of striking interest, quiet contemplation and beautiful craftsmanship between storeys. The stair and railing designer has been working in the business for almost two decades, and he never underestimates the statement-making power of a staircase. “When you walk into the front of a home, that’s usually where the stairs are situated,” he says. “They set the whole tone.”

The Birch House garden suite project
Photo by: Adrien Veczan

Bryan is one half of the BJB Woodshop team, our 2024 Western Living Maker of the Year. He and Erin Boutin (who met just in time on a dating site in 2011—“I had just about given up on dating sites and it was her first time using one,” he remembers with a laugh) started the company out of a one-car garage in Edmonton. Thanks to brand manager Erin’s savvy marketing, BJB soon had stair-crazed social media followers swooning.

High Street project
It’s the Climb
BJB’s High Street project was the first time Bryan Boutin was able to really present his own design to a client, he says. The Brooklyn brownstone-inspired staircase was created in collaboration with Nako Design, Bloc 53 Developments, Beyond Wood Ltd. and Guenther Studio. Photo by Adrien Veczan

That said, the makers never put style above substance. Bryan’s interest in stairs and railings was born out of a distaste for processed materials, the usual suspects in cabinetmaking (his field of study at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology). He made the switch and traded MDF and plastic laminate for solid wood. BJB’s High Street project in collaboration with Nako Design, for example, has a jaw-dropping continuous red oak handrail that seems to curve effortlessly back on itself. The textured black metal spindles are flush with the flooring—it’s “shoe”-less, meaning there’s no base. “The spindles die right into the flooring,” Bryan explains.

The Blue Quill No.2 staircase
Dawn of the Tread
Underneath some outdated carpet, BJB found incredible timber treads in the Blue Quill No.2 staircase: they just needed a little smoothing. The sanding and squaring up left the treads a bit smaller than before, so the woodshop team inserted black plates into the stringer pockets, creating the illusion that the steps are suspended in space. Photo by Adrien Veczan

DOTY judge Sumer Singh of Mercedes and Singh (our 2021 winner of this award) calls BJB’s work “a fresh take on what it means to create a cohesive design”—the woodshop continues to innovate on a basic functional structure invented some 4,000 years ago. Their Nihilo project’s rounded solid-wood mono-stringer (that’s the support board for the treads, akin to a spine) gives the staircase an airy, whimsical vibe, while the Blue Quill No.2 staircase revives a ’70s-era Douglas fir glulam-beam beauty with a new white oak rail and refreshed rough-sawn timber steps. “To get timber of that size—one piece of wood, with no laminations in it—is very expensive and rare,” says Bryan. “We just needed to revive it.”

The Nihilo project
Stop and Stair
The Nihilo project, done in collaboration with Justin Wisser, was judge Jody Phillips’s favourite. “It’s such a standout with its two-tone contrast and crisp lines,” she said. Photo by Adrien Veczan

That focus on sustainability shines in BJB’s Birch House garden suite project, as well: the offset “shards” of Baltic birch that make up the panelling were offcuts left over from the property’s main home. Some walnut flooring went unused, too, so Bryan and Erin reimagined it to create the kitchen peninsula and integrated railing. Artfully placed holes in the birch bring a touch of fun—inspiring judge Jody Phillips, executive director at Deer Lake Gallery, to call the studio’s passion for stairs and railings “cool and contagious.”

The Birch House garden suite project
Hole in the Wall
The offset nature and circular cutouts in the Birch House garden suite project were largely inspired by photographer Adrien Veczan, who works regularly with BJB. “He is a really skillful photographer who specializes in lighting, so I was trying to play around with light a little bit more,” says Bryan Boutin. Photo by Adrien Veczan

“I’m trying to push our industry forward—it’s been a bit stuck,” says Bryan. “To incorporate new techniques, to visually lighten as much as possible, but do it in a way that is still functional and strong and safe.” In other words: BJB is stepping up.

Bryan Boutin and his wife Erin

Q&A with Bryan Boutin

Was there a childhood moment that hinted design was in your future?

As a kid growing up in rural Alberta, I really enjoyed designing and building elaborate tree forts with my brother and cousins.

What are your design pet peeves?

Working against the inherent style of a home and shoehorning in design trends that don’t suit the architecture.

What’s changed for you, personally or business-wise, after the last few years?

Moving BJB Woodshop out of the one-car garage that we started in and into a proper commercial shop space this year has been a major highlight.

Who’s a Western Canadian designer whose work you admire?

I’ve had the opportunity of working on a stunning home for BattersbyHowat Architects over the last couple of years and I really admire their incredible attention to detail.

What music are you listening to?

I listen to a wide variety of artists but Caamp has been my go-to lately.

READ MORE: Meet Western Living’s Designers to Watch in 2024