Our Idea

Sunnywood Design Collective is, at its heart, a group of people pooling their skills and interests toward the greater good.

We choose to build creatively, constructively, and with purpose for our clients, ourselves, and our community. This fundamental philosophy is born from a sense of place that permeates our approach not just to business, but life entirely.

We have passions for art, engineering, and sustainability (among others). This leads us to work particularly within the world of renewable energy and green building, but generally with companies that express environmental responsiveness or enliven our local community of Ithaca, New York. It also makes us maddeningly attentive to detail and sincerely interested in the success of our clients.

Sunnywood Design Collective is the aegis under which we ply our trades. It is presently being transformed into a worker cooperative, which means that the employees equally own the company. We are sincerely committed to a democratized workplace and see it as an opportunity to stand in defiance against the concentration of wealth that corporate structure tends to foster. Indeed, it seems a simple and yet revolutionary approach to business that sincerely enhances community wealth.

The Evolution

Sunnywood did not start as a cooperative. Officially formed in July 2000 as a continuation of work started at the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology, Sunnywood was a sole proprietorship for Liz and Eric Woods. But even then the spark existed for a freelance collective. Since that time it has been a clear thread of purpose that we work collaboratively with other developers and designers whose friendship we cherish and whose work we admire. By 2005 we chose to expand our business, having successfully merged with one of our collaborators, Deviron. In considering how to manage growth, we were inspired by the notion of restructuring our company as a worker cooperative. We are now putting together the legal and accounting pieces to make that happen.

Sunnywood has also grown in purpose since its inception. Initially we followed closely to a mission similar to CREST, though we saw local community as equally important to the work for sustainability. But as our clients have diversified and our own interests have widened, we have similarly expanded to serve a broader base. In particular, since Paul Adkins joined our team we have worked on several bicycling-related projects as well as for clients involved with education and international development. When Deviron joined Sunnywood, Bob Rossi agreed to stay on and help us build more services locally, helping us stay well connected within our community.

Sunnywood continues to evolve, but we still seek purposeful work, meaningful relationships with our clients, and a collaborative work environment that fosters community wealth and promotes an environmentally sustainable future.