ABOUT SUSTAIN
Our work began with making things by hand and paying close attention to how materials behave.
SUSTAIN STATS
1,000,000+ SQUARE FEET
of plaster applied by hand.
35+ YEARS
working experience.
1,000+ PROJECTS
across residential, commercial & hospitality spaces.
13+ STATES
with properties built by SUSTAIN.
1 SHOWROOM
in Hood River, Oregon.
OUR ORIGIN STORY
MADE BY HAND
Before the showroom, before the interiors and before projects took the company around the world, Heith England was working directly with walls, finishes and construction. Years of working with plaster, wood, stone and other natural materials shaped the way he thought about spaces long before Sustain became the company it is today.
Working closely with material changes the way you see a room. You begin to notice when something feels natural to the architecture and when it feels imposed on it. You see the difference between a surface that was simply finished and one that carries some trace of how it was made. That way of thinking became SUSTAIN.
Today, SUSTAIN works across plaster, general contracting, interior design, custom fabrication, furniture and objects. The showroom is in Hood River, Oregon, while the work extends across the United States and around the world.
There is no single SUSTAIN look. Each project begins with the place itself and the people who will live there. The architecture, landscape, light, existing materials and history of the space all become part of the conversation.
SUSTAIN is drawn to spaces that feel personal and collected over time rather than overly resolved. Materials should be allowed to age. Rooms should have texture and depth. Objects should feel like they belong there for a reason.
SUSTAIN LOVES NATURAL FINISHES
PLASTER
Plaster has been part of SUSTAIN from the beginning.
Heith’s early work in drywall and wall finishes eventually led him toward natural clay and lime plasters and to a deeper interest in what a wall could contribute to a room beyond simply enclosing it.
Plaster is a simple material, but working with it well requires experience and patience. Each layer responds to the one beneath it. Timing, pressure and the movement of the hand all affect the finished surface. The result carries natural variation that cannot be reproduced by a machine or repeated exactly from one wall to another.
That variation is part of what makes the material so compelling. A plaster wall changes as the light changes. Texture becomes more visible at certain times of day. Color shifts subtly across the surface. The wall feels connected to the architecture rather than applied on top of it.
SUSTAIN works with clay and lime plasters in a wide range of finishes, from soft mineral surfaces to polished applications and traditional techniques such as tadelakt. The material and technique are chosen in response to the room rather than from a fixed catalog of looks.
Years of working with plaster have also influenced the way SUSTAIN approaches everything else. Natural materials do not need to be made perfectly uniform to be beautiful. Good work takes time. The hand of the maker can add character rather than detract from it.
THE PERSON BEHIND THE WORK
HEITH ENGLAND
Heith England started his first drywall business at nineteen while attending Boise State University.
His work eventually took him to Sun Valley, Idaho, where he spent years working alongside architects, interior designers, builders and craftspeople on highly detailed homes, hotels, restaurants and resorts. That experience gave him an education that went far beyond drywall. He learned how architecture, construction, material and finish affect one another and how strongly the quality of a project depends on the people making it.
Heith moved to Hood River in 2001 and continued working in construction and specialty wall finishes. His interest in natural materials deepened through his work with clay and lime plaster and eventually expanded into a broader interest in interiors, furniture and the complete experience of a home. SUSTAIN grew from that progression.
Rather than separating design from construction or furnishings from architecture, Heith built a company where those disciplines could inform one another. A wall finish could influence the furniture. The architecture could shape the interiors. A material discovered during construction could change the direction of a room.
That openness remains central to how Heith works. He is still closely involved in projects and still drawn to the physical process of making. He continues to work with plaster, spend time on job sites and collaborate directly with the people building and designing each space.
Heith has never been particularly interested in imposing a signature style on a project. He is more interested in understanding what is already there, what the client is drawn to and what the materials themselves suggest.
Sustain has grown from those early years of drywall and plaster into an international design and construction practice, but the thinking behind the work remains rooted in the same place.