Our Story

One of Baljinder Poonian’s earliest memories is sitting on sheets of plywood next to heating vents after school, watching as his father framed the rooms of new houses, two-by-four by two-by-four, amidst the click of nail guns and the scent of sawdust.

“Those images stuck with me, and that’s where my passion and love for building comes from,” says Bal, who went on to graduate from the University of British Columbia as an electrical engineer and worked overseas before settling in Kelowna with his wife, Ruby. “My dream, always, has been to build houses.”

Some 20-odd years later, Bal and Ruby had scraped up just enough to buy their first lot for development in Wallace Properties in Kelowna. It was just a square of dirt, but they were so excited they drove past the lot every day.

“The joy of selling that first house—you could sell millions and it wouldn’t compare,” says Bal.

One house at a time, R&B Construction Ltd. grew and grew, and soon they were building entire communities, starting with Cherrywood in Rutland in 2003. During construction and even to this day, the couple referred to the 31 single-family homes not by the unit number, but by the names of those who would live there.

The couple’s hands-on approach, their commitment to quality, and their vision of helping families realize the dream of home ownership—this is what makes R&B the home builders Kelowna residents and trades appreciate, and it’s what guides all of R&B’s projects.

“It’s our name on these homes so we stand behind them.”

In 2008, R&B had the privilege of building Legacy, an award-winning townhome and condominium community centred around the historic Rutland Elementary School. Where other Kelowna home builders shied away from the challenges of preserving and incorporating a heritage site, Ruby and Bal embraced them. In 2014, they were proud to open the doors to Neelam Place, a 13-unit townhome community conveniently located in Rutland.

Today, Ruby & Bal look forward to helping another generation of families grow in R&B homes.