Last Updated: Nov 2, 2023
Entrepreneur and designer Judith Mackin is a big fish in a small pond. Her interior design business in Saint John, New Brunswick has evolved into Judith being a household name in eastern Canada and beyond. Her creative work has led to beautifully inspiring new commercial and residential spaces and has been a driving force behind Saint John becoming the Renaissance City that it is.
As impressive is her and her husband Robert's casa, known as 'Into the Wild'. A hidden gem, their home is nestled in a prime yet private location in Saint John's historic district. Featured by various media outlets, most recently on the W Network's 'Real Houses Of', her work truly shines in the space she calls home. The lower level of the home serves as a storefront for TUCK Studios, where Judith sells many of the furniture, fixture, and decor items, with many found throughout her home as well. Sidenote: she's done so well with her storefront that she's in the process of relocating it to a new, bigger, location in the heart of Uptown Saint John.
But what interested Rise the most about Judith's home, beyond the glamour and stardom it has already achieved, is the home's considerations for sustainable and efficient options during the building process. Judith worked with her good friends Stephen and Monica at ACRE Architects to achieve this ultra-modern marvel, and suffice to say that conventional building materials and techniques would have to be surpassed by leaps and bounds to achieve the home's intended vision.
Most notable, and a rarity for eastern Canada, is the green roof accessible from the second floor. Green roofs are great for reducing heat flux through the roof in the summer months and minimizing heat loss in the winter. Green roofs also reduce the need for roofing materials and reduce stormwater runoff. For Judith and Robert, it's become a beautiful place to entertain.
The home is also clad in repurposed Wyoming Snowfence which gives the home its distinctive look, and also a feel-good for the reuse of existing materials that once served a very different purpose.
Since there are many windows in the home, it was also important to maximize passive solar gains by including materials like dark porcelain flooring to help capture that abundant source of heat and light.
At Rise, we strive to make sustainable home improvement easy and accessible for everyone. Whether you're building or renovating, our thoroughly vetted building products will help you reduce your carbon footprint, lower energy costs, and create a more sustainable living or working environment.