Real-time project costs across design, plant, and site.
Building Swell has become an essential part of our design management workflow. Its ability to streamline task allocation, improve time-tracking accuracy, and strengthen real-time resource planning has significantly enhanced our operational performance.
John Pilcher, Director of Design, Axe Living
About Axe Living
Axe Living is a modular housing company based in Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2023, they design and build fully panelized, low-carbon, net-zero ready homes for single and multi-family projects, from ADUs to three-story buildings. In partnership with Drew and Jonathan Scott and a team of over 50 people across design, plant, and site, Axe is growing fast. They completed 30+ units within their first 1.5 years and continue to expand housing access for families and communities throughout Canada.
The Challenge
Axe Living builds high-quality, factory-finished homes that families can afford. As volumes and project complexity increased, they needed to know real-time costs. Plant and site teams logged hours by hand and leadership struggled to see true labor cost by project, wall type, or level. Design, plant, and site teams could not always see the same plan.
Axe needed a single operational system that could capture accurate time against real work orders, show project costs in one view for office, plant, and field, and coordinate design, production, and site work without adding more admin overhead.
The Solution
Timesheets were one of the first places Axe saw immediate value. Teams that were logging time by hand could clock in and log time directly against work orders in Building Swell. Attendance and timesheets for plant and site hours are reviewed and approved directly in the system.
This was a big early win. When Axe saw how this time data rolled up to project costs, it got even more powerful. Teams could see which stages took longer than expected, which operations were overestimated, and where to focus effort. Design tasks, panel work, and site activities all sit in structured workflows. Orders roll from design into shop and into the field. Digital quality templates and structured photos support a consistent record of what was built and checked at each level.
What's Next
Axe is using Building Swell as part of a larger growth plan — standardizing their technology stack as they grow their footprint in Ontario and beyond. New team members ramp up with the same workflows, quality checks, and cost visibility the rest of the plant uses today. On site, the goal is deeper use of tracking, QR codes, and digital quality checks so field crews can log work, scan panels, and capture issues directly in Building Swell.
