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PROFILE
Real connection: Heather Thompson Co-founder of Juniper Design + Build, where award-winning design and advanced construction ensures beautiful and environmentally responsible projects.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
A fter working on multiple projects together over the years, Heather Thompson, former owner of Thompson Johnson Woodworks, and Rachel Conly, former owner of Rachel Conly Design, decided it was time to come together and form one firm – Juniper Design + Build (Peaks Island, ME). Now, they’re the poster child for collaboration. Added into the mix was a third co-founder, Mark Pollard, who was a lead carpenter at TJW. They knew that if they all joined forces they could create some real magic and high-performance building with a positive impact to boot. “We’d thought about merging our businesses for several years and 2022 was the year we finally did it,” Thompson shares. “We felt confident to make the move. Our businesses were thriving and we had solid industry relationships. The timing was right.” In part, the pandemic actually contributed to this decision as there was an influx of design/build business. Thompson says people were really rethinking the spaces they were living in and contemplating what they could do differently. Many
wanted to renovate or build, and their clients shared the co- founders’ ethos for building appropriately-sized homes with a small carbon footprint. For example, the Woods + Water House project began with a request for a humble bunkhouse. Its breathtaking site – a bluff of spruce and pine on an island overlooking the sea – inspired what evolved into a dramatic studio. It’s now divided into two distinct halves, then woven together by 1,000 square feet of cedar decking, creating complete immersion in the stunning surroundings. Designed and built to minimize carbon footprint, the building uses siding, decking, and pergola framing of locally-sawn white cedar, with seams painstakingly aligned across the walls, doors, and even the floors. Cabinetry, flooring, and trim are made of rift-sawn white oak. The result is an unforgettable, environmentally-responsible building, easily up to the challenge of enduring its seaside location.
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