ABOUT US

A Passion For Sustainable Building Design

It is this passion that led to the inception of GNAR Inc. a building design firm focused on bringing clients vision to life while also having a positive impact on the environment. The desire became reality in 2016 when the company was established in the mountain town of Whistler, BC. Ongoing education in areas such as Energy Efficiency, Energy Retrofits, Passive House Design, Net Zero, and Energy Positive Building Design has allowed the GNAR Inc. team to become experts in sustainable building design with a desire to see it become the building design standard in the Sea to Sky corridor and beyond.

Our Mission

To Have Every Renovation, Addition, and New Building Design Be a Sustainable One.

Meet The GNAR Team

Eddie Dearden

Founder & CEO
Sustainable Home Designer

Eddie founded GNAR Inc back in 2016, a civil engineer from Australia, Eddie is passionate about the environment and addressing the climate emergency through sustainable building design. In 2016 he switched to Structural Engineering before taking on studies in Architecture and Interior Design. He has extensive experience in steel design, BIM 3D modelling and is a registered Passive House designer. A master of all aspects of design and construction, Eddie oversees all projects undertaken at GNAR Inc and is very hands on and engaging with clients and builders to ensure the projects success. Eddie is also a mean barista and his passion for coffee is right up there with the environment.

GNARchetype – The Hero

Mark Kavanagh

Lead Sustainable Home Designer

Mark, who is our Lead Sustainable Home Designer, hails from Ireland. Having graduated with a Masters in Architecture from the University of Dublin in 2019, he decided to trade in his Gaelic speaking ways and his galoshes for ski boots and started living in the mountains. He found solace in the rainy spring and fall days and called Whistler home. He has since moved back to Ireland due to COVID but will be returning “home” soon. He has a passion for sustainable design practices, the environment and maintaining a low eco-footprint. Mark has the skills to pay the bills with a background of industry know how as well as hands on experience which makes him a builder’s dream designer.

GNARchetype – The Hero

Leona Slivova

Sustainable Home Designer
Energy Advisor

Leona is one of our Sustainable Home Designers with a Masters in Civil Engineering. Originally from the Czech Republic, now residing in Revelstoke, Leona has been with GNAR Inc since 2018. She is a Certified Passive House Consultant and a licensed Energy Advisor. Leona has 5 years work experience as a building designer and is a wizard on Archicad with over 6 years experience and can literally draft anything you can imagine. She is an avid biker and loves to spend time in the backcountry ski touring. Fun fact about Leona is that she has been winter camping since she was 11 years of age.

GNARchetype – The Explorer

Luke O’Neill

Sustainable Home Designer

Meet Luke, the newest member of the GNAR team. Luke is one of our Sustainable Home Designers that moved here from Ireland back in 2019. With a Masters degree from Ireland’s premier University of Architecture, Luke has the skills to pay the bills. He specializes in BIM 3D modeling, rendering, drafting and of course designing dream homes for our future clients. Luke believes that
good architectural design has the ability to change the world.
“If you can improve just one person’s experience through placemaking and considerate design, they you’ve made the world a better place”. Like
most people in Whistler, Luke came for a winter season and has been here ever since. You can say he has really taken to the Whistler lifestyle and on most days you can find him in the bike park or on the slopes.

GNARchetype – The Hero

Mitch Forster

Client Relations
Interior Designer

Mitch, who we fondly refer to as the Mother of GNAR, is our Client Relations Manager. Mitch moved to Whistler in 2004 from Australia and she is the heartbeat of the company hence her Mother title accolade. She works closely facilitating meetings, dialogue and anything project related, she is also on her way to becoming a fully certified Passive Home Designer and has a diploma from the Interior Design Institute with 4 years experience in the design world. She has just recently taken on the world of Interior Design with Jess, these two ladies can tackle any project, big or small!

GNARchetype – The Explorer

Jess Routhier

Lead Interior Designer

Jess is our experienced In-House Lead Interior Designer with 13 years of knowledge and expertise. Originally hailing from Quebec, our bilingual designer has specialized in high end properties in the Sea to Sky area for 6 years. Jess has a diploma in Interior Design and is working towards her completion of the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification). Jess’s super power is she is outstanding with customers and makes sure that end results always exceed expectations.

GNARchetype – The Magician

Courtney Foxgord

Sales and Marketing

Courtney is the Sales and Marketing Manager at GNAR
Inc. She has a BBA in
Marketing and 15+ years of experience in social media, Project Management, content marketing, graphic design and sales. Her extensive sports background and I mean extensive, brought her to Whistler in 2004 and her
passion for the environment
and protecting winters only
grew from there. Her love for sustainability has lead her to GNAR and she is excited to be apart of such a fun, dynamic team.

GNARchetype – The Jester

Poppy & Billie

Office Manager

Poppy and Billie are two of the best office dogs a company could ask for. Poppy is a border collie that is fun loving, very sweet and wins the best behaved dog in Whistler. She loves long walks in the mountains and doing tricks for treats. Billie is a black Lab that has spunk. She loves going on any sort of adventure and just being outside. When they are not jumping up trying to get love, they are sleeping, dreaming of sustainable designs that can help make the world a better place for them as well as their humans.

GNARchetype – The Innocent