Est. 2023 — Halifax, Nova Scotia

Four years at the drawing board.

Tidewater Drafting is a two-person studio based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, producing permit-ready construction documents for architects, builders, and homeowners — locally and all across Canada.

See our work

A drafter sketching a floor plan by hand in a notebook beside a large monitor, in a wood-panelled studio.

Our story

We started because nobody would draw our tiny house.

That was 2021. We were already working in the building industry, so when no drafter would take the idea on, we picked up BIM software and modelled it ourselves — iterating the plan until it was something that could actually be built and permitted. Friends asked next, then the builders working on their projects, and by 2023 there was enough drawing work to open as a studio.

Modelling first is still how we work. Plans, elevations, and sections come off one coordinated model rather than three drawings that have to be kept in agreement, every sheet is drawn in-house, and nothing leaves the office without a second set of eyes on it.

How we got here

2021
A tiny house nobody would draw
No drafter would take the idea on, so we modelled it ourselves and learned BIM in the process.
2023
Studio founded
Two drafters and one board, working residential remodels for builders around Halifax.
2024
Working remotely, past Halifax
Clients outside the city brought new jurisdictions with them, and the requirements library we check every set against.
2025
Rendering and walkthroughs added
Realistic previews built from the same model as the drawings, so clients see the design before it is built.
2026
50th permit set delivered
Across seven counties and districts, still drawn in-house and still delivered as both PDF and DWG.

Our team

Elias Muratore

Principal drafter

It started with a 2x4 that measured 1.5" by 3.5" and nobody on site finding that strange. Working out why led to building analysis, then to fabrication projects where a drawing either fit the material or did not — and eventually head-first into drafting. Draws the permit sets, and handles jurisdiction review and redline response.

Evan Costille

Scripting & renderings

Has been laying out houses since the first Sims, before the game had a single expansion pack to its name. That turned into an interest in software automation, which brought him back to buildings by way of the tooling — now specializing in graphic presentation and rendering.

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