Courtesy / Trent Bell, Woodhull
A residential project on Harbor Island, Phippsburg, with architecture, construction and millwork performed by Woodhull.
November 18, 2022
A Portland design-build firm will adapt its branding to reflect rapid expansion
Courtesy / Woodhull
Caleb Johnson has taken his name off the door of the design/build firm he founded, in order to focus recognition on the team and build partnerships for the future.
Caleb Johnson Studio|Woodhull of Maine, an architecture, construction and millwork firm headquartered in Portland, rebranded this week to Woodhull as a shift in focus from the founder to the entire team.
"It takes dozens of people to shepherd a project from the client’s vision to execution, and Woodhull reflects that,” said Caleb Johnson, the company’s founder and principal architect. “Removing my name from the door provides an opportunity for this talented group of professionals to gain the recognition they deserve.”
Johnson and photographer Trent Bell founded Caleb Johnson Studio as a two-person enterprise initially called Johnson Bell, in Biddeford in 2003. Bell left the partnership in 2006 to pursue his own career in photography. Since then, Johnson grew the business to employ over 70 architects, designers, cabinetmakers, support staff, construction project managers, project superintendents, estimators and carpenters.
The firm provides services throughout the life of a project and architecture; construction and millwork teams collaborate from the outset.
“Woodhull is a way forward for our firm to become a legacy company,” Johnson said.
With the rebranding, Woodhull promoted the following directors to partners: Patrick Boothe, Michael Cleary, Peter Floeckher, Amy Kronenthal, David Duncan Morris, Scott Stuart and Teresa Telander.
We asked Johnson about the company’s evolution and future. Here’s an edited transcript.
Mainebiz: Tell us about the company’s growth.
Caleb Johnson: We started with just two people in Biddeford and spent from 2003 to 2017 pretty heavily involved in Biddeford’s Main Street community. But we moved to Portland in 2017 because it’s the economic center of Maine. Today we’re between 70 and 75 people.
MB: Where are you now located?
So we’re in three primary locations. But we’re under contract to purchase the old Greater Portland Landmarks headquarters [at 93 High St. in Portland] to move our operation there. Or plan is to consolidate all our offices on High Street, but we’ll maintain our millwork shop in Brunswick and the carpentry shop in Portland. We do need to expand all of that, but we’re taking acquisitions one at a time. At the moment, we’re leasing all of our space.
MB: Could you expand on the millwork?
CJ: We have a 10-person millwork firm in Brunswick we brought on seven years ago. Our capacity to make our own custom millwork specifically for the projects we design and build brings a real polish to our work.
Before we bought the firm, we had a small millwork arm with one or two employees. But there was an older construction firm that was one man with helpers. He started to get close to retirement age and had a mill shop in Brunswick, about 6,000 square feet, that was much better than ours. With the mill shop came Scott Stuart, who is now a partner at Woodhull. We grew the shop with Scott to nine employees. It’s one of our smaller programs on the revenue side right now, but we expect it to be a key differentiator over the coming decades.
MB: And where is the rest of the team?
CJ: We have about 40 employees at 110 Exchange St. in Portland. And we employ over 20 field carpenters whose jobs stretch from Westport Island, which is just south of Boothbay, all the way down to the southern border in Kittery. We have a warehouse in Portland where the carpenters base their operations.
MB: How many projects are you working on at any point in time?
CJ: We have over 60 active projects. We start from preconstruction, when you’re studying the feasibility of a project, and go all the way to full construction and helping people get their occupancy permit. We might have six to 10 commercial projects under construction at a time, and we might have 10 to 15 residential projects under construction at a given time. But the architecture studio works on far more than that. We have 24 architects right now on staff.
Courtesy / Trent Bell, Woodhull
The Harbor Island project was designed to be simple in form to contrast with the wildness of the site. The building geometry is radial, addressing the panoramic views. Concrete piers allow the building to float above the ground to preserve existing landscape while protecting the home in the event of high water.
MB: How much are your projects worth at any given tine?
CJ: As for everyone in our industry, COVID was an accelerator. Closing 2021, we did in the range of $12 million worth of projects. Closing 2022, we expect to pass $20 million. So we’ll be pretty close to doubling our top line revenue from 2021 to 2022.
The spread on that is probably over $3 million in architecture, $1 million to $2 million in furniture and cabinetry, and the balance is general construction. We project $6 million to $7 million in commercial projects and the balance is in residential. A good residential job for us is between $800,000 and $4 million. And we’re always pleased to do renovations, which some architecture firms, and even construction firms, shy away from. We love bringing things back from dilapidated to sparkling.
MB: What’s the geographic spread of your projects?
CJ: For construction, it’s Kittery to Boothbay. For architecture, it’s the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Mount Desert Island. The architecture is really well known on the residential side for waterfront. That works calls us up and down the coast quite a bit.
MB: Why are you taking your name off the firm?
CJ: It’s about thinking through the future of the company. I was sole owner since 2006 until this week. Now I’ve brought on seven partners. Each one runs their own business division, whether millwork, commercial design, residential design, etc. Taking my name off the door, I believe, gives them room to expand into their own careers and get recognition that’s not directly associated with my name — to get the credit they deserve.
It also will preserve the value of the company. I’m 46 years old, but I imagine that, one day, I’ll be ready to step out. With Woodhull being a recognized brand, that brand will retain more value than the company having to rebrand at the moment I step out. We’ll get that over with now, while we’re vibrant and moving forward.
It will also allow us to bring in new partners that aren’t our same age. Right now, we’re all in our mid-40s. But we’ll develop associates who will eventually turn into partners. It’s about the preservation and sustainability of the business.
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