Dean Bottomley

Architectural Technologies '02
President and Owner, Dean Thomas Design Group

Drive through certain Calgary neighbourhoods and you’re guaranteed to see several of Dean Bottomley’s luxurious home designs. Perhaps that’s why there’s a certain charm in knowing his internationally recognized architectural design firm began with Bottomley working from a dining room table.

“I always knew I was going to start my own company. When my friend went on sabbatical and offered up his house, that table became my first design studio.”

In the early days, Bottomley relied on the personal relationships he had built during seven years working with a Calgary home builder after graduating from SAIT. More than 90% of his clients came through builders, and he took any work he could get.

Then things started to change. “When we presented plans for our first custom home in the community of Watermark, the builder’s jaw dropped — that home was unlike anything this city had seen before.”

After that, Bottomley found more clients coming to him directly, and with bigger budgets. “Our entry-level home in 2010 was $500,000. Today, it’s $3 million.”

Higher price points meant Bottomley could shift his work to match his passion: creating immersive architecture through artful structures that are far more than their component wood, stone, glass and steel. Today, Dean Thomas Design Group is a 17-person studio known for its unique style.

“We always put our own little je ne sais quoi-kind of twist on things. Clients tell us that when they drive around neighbourhoods, it doesn’t matter whether the home is traditional or modern, they can tell it’s ours.

“Joining our clients as they step into their finished home for the first time –– seeing the way their faces light up, the emotion in their eyes, the quiet awe –– it’s still one of the most rewarding moments for me, every single time.”

Bottomley also takes pride in seeing growth in the designers he has hired — many of whom are SAIT graduates — and the ones who will follow in his footsteps. It’s why he plays an active role on the advisory board for SAIT’s Architectural Technologies program and helps facilitate site visits for its students.

He’s also resurrected a design competition in the second semester of the program that was so pivotal to his own experience. “I’ve hired four of the winners over the years,” Bottomley says. “It’s been so cool to see things come full circle and to be able to help students have the same experience I did.”