Urban Studio Design Corp

We hired Urban Studio to convert a century old multi-plex in central Toronto into a single family home, and couldn't be happier with this company. The quality of work is very high, we stayed on budget, and finished on-time (4 months start-to-finish). There were many challenges, of course, but Joseph never failed to present workable options. Everything is up-to code and the team / trades at Urban Studio were professional and responsive. Here are a few areas where this company is different than the other quotes we got: - The statement of work included fixtures and finishes, like flooring, tile, faucets, etc... - There is a 'no surprise' guarantee, so if issues with things like the structure, wiring, or plumbing came up, Urban Studio addressed it at no extra charge. - Urban Studio pays a daily penalty for the project not finishing on time. This was our 4th renovation and our family is filled with plumbers and electricians, giving us access to experts other renovators may not have. We'd all go to Joseph and Urban Studio for our projects moving forward.

We hired Urban Studio for a large home addition and renovation project. The experience was exceptional from start to finish. As a growing family, we knew we needed more space, but we also wanted to preserve the charm and character of our older home. Joseph and his team understood that right away. From the initial design phase through construction, the process was smooth and well-organized. Having one point of contact for both the design and build made a huge difference as it eliminated the back-and-forth we’ve experienced with other contractors in the past. Joseph was always responsive, punctual, transparent, and genuinely invested in making sure every detail was right. The new addition blends in so seamlessly with our existing home that you’d never guess it wasn’t part of the original structure. The quality of workmanship is outstanding, and every trade involved was professional, respectful, and clearly well-managed by Joseph. The project was completed on time and within budget, which we know is no small feat in today’s market. We now have a home that looks beautiful and functions so much better for our family’s day-to-day life. We’re incredibly grateful to the Urban Studio team and would confidently recommend them to anyone looking to take on a major renovation or home addition in Toronto.

We chose Urban Studio for our home renovation project because of their unique, seamless approach that combines both design and construction under one roof. We hired them for a complete gut renovation and to build a second-floor addition on our bungalow. Joseph and his team are truly exceptional. From the start, Joseph’s knowledge, professionalism, and punctuality stood out. He kept us informed at every stage of the project, ensuring the process was smooth and stress-free. All of the trades involved were highly professional, working efficiently under Joseph’s close supervision. The craftsmanship and attention to detail were outstanding, every aspect of the work was completed to the highest standard. We are beyond happy with how our home turned out and would not hesitate to work with Urban Studio again. We’ve already recommended them to friends and family, and we encourage anyone considering a renovation or addition to do the same. You won’t be disappointed!

Construction can be a daunting proposition so it was very important for my family to find people whom we can trust with our home. We feel very lucky that we found Joseph and his team. We embarked on a second floor addition and a full renovation of our bungalow. Urban Studio helped us design and apply for city permits for the work both inside and outside our property. They are professional, respectful, kind and most importantly trustworthy. Joseph helped us to make decisions and few times helped us change our minds when needed. He is very punctual and easy to work with. Looking out window we often see cars stopping to take pictures of the house! We are thankful for our well-constructed home. Thank you everyone at Urban Studio.

We hired Urban Studio to design and build a rear addition and a full gut renovation of our home. After visiting two of their projects and speaking to some of their references, we were reassured that they would put in great care and detail into our place. Joseph and his design team proposed an open floor plan which we didn't think could be achieved with a renovation, giving us the extra space we needed, an spacious kitchen, a practical laundry room, a serene master bedroom and bath on the second floor, and an amazing deck. We were happy to rely on their expertise in the design aspect as we didn’t have any prior experience. Our family could not be happier with the overall result of the renovation. Being a large renovation project we were prepared for several months of construction and had to rent a home above standards price which increased our initial cost estimate. With a whole home renovation, I think it's inevitable that problems are going to arise. Urban Studio kindly dealt with every issue even when the company was not directly at fault. Joseph was patient throughout and made sure things we done to our expectation. I must add Joseph did everything he could to help with expenses, including helping us choose materials that would fit our budget, letting us use the company’s suppler discount and provide alternatives that might be lower in cost but function just as well. We were able to move in 7 months after Urban Studio began work. The company is quick to respond to emails, calls and texts even with multiple projects on the go. Joseph kept us in the loop with the weekly progress and we did not feel the need to do any daily site check-ins as we had complete faith in Joseph and his great team. Thank you to everyone for all your hard work! We love our beautiful new home!

Joseph and his team at Urban Studio are as professional as you can find a team to be. Joseph has his artistic and creative views which helped us a lot both in the design and construction process. At first we were worried and a bit hesitant to undertake our renovation project during the pandemic, but let me tell you, It was a smooth process throughout. All their trades are professional and friendly. Our full gut renovation included new electrical, plumbing throughout, two bathrooms as well as a new kitchen. Joseph is a perfectionist and pays attention to every detail that we didn’t not even know it existed!! He is very punctual and easy to deal with it. I’ve already recommended him to few friends and 100% recommend them to anyone out there looking for a professional home renovation service.

Let me begin by saying that I’m writing this review during the Covid-19 crisis in Feb 2021. We hired Urban Studio to design and construct a large addition to our home prior to the pandemic. The project included extending an existing a two-story home at the back and adding a 3rd floor. Knowledgeable and experienced design team which included Engineers and Architects, submitted all the necessary drawings we needed to get the approval from the Committee of Adjustment and the required City Permits. We were able to start our construction after a few short months. We experienced professionalism throughout the entire process and witnessed pure transparency throughout the project. The trades were all friendly, professional and focused on their craftsmanship. During the construction we observed Joseph’s skills as the Project Manager. He was punctual, responsive, and easy to work with. He was extremely helpful with his ideas about the design, layout and finishing’s of our home. Joseph’s ability of problem solving was outstanding. He was very flexible with any changes or new ideas that came along during construction. I can’t even imagine doing this without him on board. The mile stone payment plan was very assuring and also helped me understand the process of construction. As this was over a $600,000 commitment for my husband and I, the entire breakdown of the financial project kept us on track. In addition, I was able use the trades discounts at their recommended suppliers and it was a nice to have the option to upgrade my fixtures and save some money. Now that I work from home, and my children are doing online learning, I am not sure how it would even be manageable if we were living in our old home. We are now living in a 5-bedroom, 6-bathroom, three-story home with a fully finished basement. Our house is brand new from the inside out. We couldn’t be happier with the end results! We are loving our new kitchen and all the extra space! My kids don’t feel cramped and being lockdown in our new home is enjoyable. The pandemic has taken a toll on all of us and a family of 5 living in a 2-bedroom rental was not easy. Due to the lockdown/pandemic, our project was delayed by a few weeks. My husband and I fully understood the situation and did not complain about the delay. Urban Studio surprised us by offering to cover the cost of our short-term rental. This just shows how understanding the company represented itself during this crisis by placing the homeowners needs at the forefront. Well done Joseph Alavi and thank you to you all at Urban Studio!!

The paint my wife requested just got delivered. Its pretty rare that you see companies giving away stuff for free. What you guys are doing for the community is amazing. Just told our neighbour about this too. Keep it up!!

Upon purchasing a hundred-year old house in Leslieville, it was clear a solid renovator was needed to help give the house some TLC. Only one bathroom in a three-bedroom house, a small and dated kitchen, an unfinished basement – were just a few of the issues that simply made the house difficult to live in. After doing some research, we met with the Executive Project Manager (Joseph) for Urban Studio. Their ratings on all relevant platforms were second to none. There were limited opportunities to bring contractors to the house before closing but after meeting with Joseph it was clear that there would be no shopping around necessary. Very quickly Joseph started earning our trust and confidence. On his first visit to the house, he recognized that there was moisture in the basement (something I was unaware of on purchase). As well, he spoke about the importance of permits as opposed to some contractors that may advise that permits are unnecessary. Moreover, his advice was that any of his competitors that advised against permits should not be hired as it was both advisable and necessary to have permits in place for the work being done. In addition to these things that were raised before signing for Urban Studio to complete the work, Joseph has an excellent sense of humour and demeanor which were both important to me. While the project cost and scope were quite large, without shopping the job around, sourcing quotes and information, Urban Studio was clearly the renovator for the job. One of the things I appreciate about the contract with Urban Studio is the built-in feature to provide financial value to homeowners for not meeting timelines. It was another reason they were chosen as it was clear that they meant to be on-time with the project – something I understand not too be the case for all contractors/projects. My experience with Urban Studio was solely through the Executive Project Manager. As stated earlier, I found him to have a great sense of humour and demeanor, but his real value is with his great advice, thoughtfulness and understanding. As I stated, the job was a large job and it won’t surprise you that it wasn’t without challenge. However, every step of the way Joseph was there to explain details, provide advice and also to find ways to stay within the budget wherever appropriate. As is the case when opening walls, unforeseen issues can arise and when they did Joseph found solutions that would ensure the house had sound structure and my wallet was not too badly injured. From a cost perspective, Urban Studio submitted a quote that was in-line with my expectations. As well, when I shared with friends and family the amount of work that was being performed and the price tag associated with the project, all were surprised at how reasonable the cost was. Of course the price did increase during the project but that should be expected when breaking into walls and finding no insulation, inadequate gas connections, etc. However, as mentioned before, the Executive Project Manager made every effort to stay within budget by making suggestions of where cost could be reduced and where other offsets could be identified. I would be remiss not too mention all the incredible sub-contractors that Urban Studio brought in for the project. They as well shared Joseph’s traits and were very helpful on a regular basis. During the project they would regularly go the extra mile by helping when deliveries would come to the house etc. They were friendly, professional and very good at their crafts. They worked hard, they worked long and they did an amazing job. Thank you to you all. Now that I have been able to move-in I can say that I am quite satisfied with the work performed. The quality of the craftsmanship is excellent. Moreover, Urban Studios will be coming back to iron out any issues I locate as I settle in. During these troubling times (this was written during the Covid-19 crisis), Urban Studio is not coming back to complete non-urgent work (i.e. cosmetic) and this is something I truly appreciate as we all know how important distance is at this time of increased awareness of social responsibility.

We are pleased with the work performed by Urban Studio on our property in the Upper Beach area. We have hired Urban Studio to build an addition to our bungalow including gutting of entire house, including the basement. The project was quite challenging and required well thought approach and lots of imagination in design stage. It was accomplished and we liked the way it was planned. During our renovation, Joseph – project manager was very helpful and heavily involved in all the major decisions regarding a design of the interior and selection of fixtures. I have to admit that he spent quite a bit of time helping us in that stage and had some great ideas. It was very helpful. He was also willing to pass suppliers discounts and we had visibility of what different vendors charged us for materials supplied or work performed. Of course, during such a major project there were always issues that we have encountered and we worked with Joseph and his staff to find a solution to mitigate them. For example: our scope of project changed and we added some items, like the gutting of basement, waterproofing. In the end, Urban Studio built for us a new house. Due to the fact that scope of worked significantly changed It caused a delay in timing of completion of the project. We thought that some issues could be dealt with a bit faster and better planned, but at the same time, we understand the limitation and challenges of running multiple projects. However, if there was an urgent situation, Joseph was able to send his contractor on the site quickly. The house that Urban Studio built for us really looks great and we enjoy it and also got very positive feedback from our friends. Urban Studio has ensured us that the worked performed has a warranty. Thank you Urban Studio !

Urban studio has renovated several homes in my neighbourhood in the past few years and came highly recommended by our nieghbours. My experience with them couldn’t have been any better. The built process itself was very transparent with no surprises. Joseph was always available to answer all of our questions and would always make himself available to meet with us. From the first meeting we felt we could trust him something that we didnt feel with any other companies as it's very rare in reno industry! Joseph is very knowledgeable and capable, also great at explaining the options and helping us with decision making. The end result is fantastic and that's due to Joseph's attention to details. We love our new house and highly recommend Urban Studio.

We were thinking about the idea of an addition to our Leslieville home for over a year... after a lot of online research we reached out to those companies that had experience dealing with large renovation project. We then started to meet with them and saw many different proposals, I must say Urban Studio stood out from the very beginning. Their approach was very different than all the others to begin with! Unlike others they were responsive and within the same week we had Joseph Alavi visiting our home while waited for several weeks for most of the companies, and some never even bother getting back to us! while few asked between $500 to $1000 for the site visit! Joseph was amazing, his knowledge and the information he passed on to us on the very first meeting was very helpful and made us feel we can trust his professional opinion about different aspects of our project. He provided us with an estimate which comparing to others the detail that was provided was outstanding! Definitely not the most expensive estimate we received neither the cheapest but their pricing was reasonable and made sense. We also liked that the scope of work was tied to milestone payment plan and that’s why we finally felt comfortable to undertake this massive project! After waiting 6 months, the permits were released and we started moving out our furnitures to a storage unit, my family and I moved out of our home for a little over 8 months. Within this time Urban Studio built two storey addition at the back of our home and gutted the entire house. Considering our 100+ years old home our project was not an easy task Urban Studio ran into some obstacles, However we always experienced professionalism with Joseph, he rectified any and all hiccups that came up during our renovation. All of his team members were respectful and pleasant to deal with. The quality of their work is indeed above the industry standards and as a result we are now enjoying our new custom kitchen and our master bedroom on the second floor which we never had! Joseph’s design inputs made our project a dream come true. Thank you for making our home look like something out of a magazine! I would not hesitate to recommend Urban Studio to our friends and family.