From what I've seen in Vancouver, quality and design are separate. You can hire a first-class designer, then hire a third-rate builder to construct the building

From what I've seen in Vancouver, quality and design are separate. You can hire a first-class designer, then hire a third-rate builder to construct the building, and vice versa. These events happen every day. It all depends on how much the developer wants to spend. As an aside (Flame suit on: I am Chinese), most extreme high-end houses ($3 mill and up) here are bought by wealthy Chinese immigrants/investors. This leads to 2 situations- If the house is built by a developer, then the quality tends to be low. Even the worst Vancouver builder's craftsmanship is better than what you would normally get in China. This means that the developers have no incentive to pay extra as the buyer would be impressed regardless. So McMansion with low quality. If the house is built by wealthy immigrants, however, then the quality tend to be very high. When money is no objection, it's amazing how much quality you can get... So McMansion with high quality. More aside: This particular style of house is all the rage in Vancouver suburbia in the last 5 years. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/drastic-pruning-of-200-year-old-richmond-tree-triggers-rcmp-probe-1.3014683 http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/drastic-pruning-of-200-year-old... Imagine seeing 20 of these new houses in 1 suburbia street :( It's quite dispiriting.