Helios Land Design
Founded in 2004 Helios Land Design, is a client, quality and value-focused company, offering a complete range of land design, protection, planning, permitting and management services. We specialize in creating beautiful, functional, and meaningful spaces that provide enduring solutions to environmental challenges and Client needs.
Jeff Thibodeau, President
Jeff has over 25 years of professional project management experience involving Landscape Architecture, Master Planning, Land Management, Habitat and Wildlife Protection, Land Acquisition, Environmental Restoration, Zoning, Permitting, Conservation, Planting Design, Invasive Species Control, Community Engagement, Outreach and Education, Research, Writing, Recreation Planning, Land Use Feasibility, Public Presentation, and Grants, He has produced hundreds of publications, drawings, maps, applications and presentations for public, private and non-profit clients throughout the region and beyond.
Jeff is joined by a team of multitalented associates assembled specifically to meet the needs of each project.
Client Testimonials
I am pleased to offer my endorsement of Jeff Thibodeau.
I worked very closely with Jeff in the context of a gut renovation in Chatham. The landscaping requirements were extensive, and including substantial regrading, stonework, in-ground firepit, outdoor kitchen, reconceived outdoor shower, perennial borders, privacy/shade plantings, and a section of lawn adjacent to the driveway that allowed it to perform double duty as both a green lawn to offset the stonework and plantings, as well as an area for overflow parking.
Jeff was calm, cool, organized, insightful, and brought his own aesthetic, while being very attuned to my goals and visions. Rather than provide for me a cookie cutter/copy and paste design, he sent me many ideas and got to know my tastes and then helped me recognize, organize, and achieve what I wanted to accomplish.
Jeff also was great with use of technology to provide 3-D images I could manipulate in order to better visualize how certain hardscape elements would fit into the big picture.
I found Jeff’s involvement to be invaluable in achieving my dream property, in both the design phase as well as the solicitation of bids and oversight of installation.
I gladly offer my wholehearted endorsement of his work!
Sincerely, Mark L, Chatham, MA
My husband and I hired Jeff Thibodeau to draw up and carry out a landscaping plan for a large and complicated property in Chatham. We requested trees, shrubs, ground cover, a meadow area, a great variety of flowering plants and a grass soccer field as requested by a number of grandchildren! Jeff presented us with extensive detailed drawings and lists. He was very willing to make changes, offer advice and suggest substitutions. The property has a varied topography and many conservation Commission restrictions further complicating the project. Jeff was able to deal with those issued without complaint. We were not living full time on the Cape at that time which further complicated the job but Jeff took it in stride.
I feel certain you would be very happy with the end result and the experience of working with Jeff Thibodeau.
Sincerely, Sarah A., Chatham, MA
“Jeff’s sense of urgency around the project was appreciated, especially given the tight timeline, and did the job well and was very responsive. Jeff is good at what he does, takes it seriously and produces good work.”
Sincerely, D.H. Orleans, MA
Did You Know?
Helios Land Design works on both small and large projects ranging from simple sketches for small garden spaces to complete drawing sets for large, detailed landscapes. We also produce permitting plans, master plans, land management plans, and eco-restoration planting/mitigation plans for homeowners, towns and non-profits environmental groups.
Philosophy and Approach to Practice
We design spaces and solutions that nurture the health, balance, beauty and abundance of people and the planet.
At Helios Land Design, each of our conversations, thoughts, actions, and design solutions is aimed at making this world a better place, one person and one project at a time.
We are practical and thoughtful designers, project managers and decision-makers with decades of proven expertise leading environmental design, protection and management projects. We are also sensitive and intuitive visionaries that delve beneath the surface of things to explore and celebrate the essence of life and its varied inter-relationships.
Our view is holistic. We believe that every organism and entity has a vital role to play in the grand web of life.
Circle of Life
Every person, place, object, energy, thought, word and action makes an impact that can and should generate positive, creative, abundant health and beauty in the individual, the larger community, and in the ecosystem. This is an essential principle of ecology, community and life.
Every person, place, object, energy, thought, word and action makes an impact that can and should generate positive, creative, abundant health and beauty in the individual, the larger community, and in the ecosystem. This is an essential principle of ecology, community and life.
"Chaos Theory" posits that every single action, even something as seemingly insignificant as the flap of a butterfly’s wings, affects the entire cosmos. This "Butterfly Effect" is something we believe in. Small decisions and actions have profound and enduring effects upon the visible and invisible realms of existence, at both the personal and global levels. We believe that with intentional thought, action, and design, we can make a positive and lasting impact upon you, your family, your home and your world. This is a central tenet of our work, and we hope you entrust us to collaborate with you to make it real.
Working with the land as our canvas, life’s many forms and ideas as our palette, and heart-centered imagination as our muse, we are gifted with nearly infinite choices for how to approach a design or environmental challenge. We narrow these choices through careful study, conversation, thought, feeling, conceptualization, analysis, iteration, reason, and informed intuition. Our design solutions emerge from a marriage of science and art and we receive direction from nature’s wisdom, as well as yours.
We start by listening to you, the Client, seeking to understand your challenges, goals, needs and vision. We hope for a rich conversation about how to make your dream a reality in a way that is lasting, meaningful, and affordable.
If you are an individual seeking landscape design for your home yard, we will ask you…
- How would you describe yourself, your life, your family, your world?
- What are you most central values?
- What is most important to you and your family now and for the future?
- What do you and your family specifically desire from this project or space?
- What activities are fun, exciting and fulfilling for you?
- What type of sounds, smells, sights or sounds lift and fill you up?
- What is your design style preference? Do you like modern, classical, native, surreal, complex, simple, colorful, spare, layered, symbolic, rectilinear, flowing…?
- How do you most easily and deeply connect with the space that you live in?
- Do you have special needs around accessibility, health, communication, etc.?
- What are the specific design program elements you want to include in your project? Deck, patio, lawn, plants, pool, sport courts, play areas, outdoor kitchen, fire pit, fountain, walls, lighting, irrigation, pergola, gazebo, etc.?
- What is your estimated budget?
- And more…
We want to get to know you and your vision and collaborate with you on a design that supports it.
If you are a public entity or a commercial/institutional Client or professional colleague, our focus centers on the more practical aspects, including design concept and program, project/community/team priorities, budget, target dates and more. We will ask…
- What are the projects central program elements, priorities and goals?
- What is/are the central design concept(s)?
- What are the infrastructural assets and liabilities?
- What is the estimated budget and schedule?
- Who are the team partners and what roles do each of them play?
- Where can I find the best sources of information and direction to facilitate successful completion of this project?
- And more…
With this information as a basis, we explore the space we are engaging. We absorb the site’s essence…its "Genius Loci" or Spirit of Place. Next, we study the physical makeup of the natural ecosystem…its geology, geography, topography, species, habitats, etc.….. and its natural and cultural processes and connections. We ask what gives the environment its life and identity and we strive to support, protect and build upon that. We identify and assess problems and challenges, and craft thoughtful and effective solutions. Simultaneously, we bridge the arc of time by honoring the past, celebrating the present, and designing for the future. We anticipate and remain responsive to changes on the land and in life, such as family growth, aging, climate change, social transformation, housing, population growth, environmental problems, and economic pressures.
We then marry our comprehensive understanding of place, personal vision, practicalities, and program to create a beautiful whole that strengthens and exhibits the connection between people and place, home and landscape, head and heart.
We ground the foregoing philosophy in the real-world considerations of budgets and timelines, working with you and project partners to guide the installation of the final product. We see the result as both an art and a science, worthy of a craftsman’s care and a scientist’s precision, and we honor and celebrate the enduring nature of our collaborative creations.
Our principal project goals are:
- Helping you, the Client, by meeting your needs, incorporating your preferences and achieving your goals
- Achieving the highest and best use of a site incorporating design excellence
- Finding solutions to environmental challenges and maximizing ecological protection and sustainability
- Responding to and building upon the “Genius Loci” or “Spirit of Place”
- Rendering a positive and lasting impact on people and the planet
We see people and places as they are now, and also for what they can become, and we work to help them reach their highest potential.
Did You Know?
The Helios sun spiral logo, designed by Jeff, represents the infinite reach of the spiral, the warmth and brightness of the sun and the balance of nature’s elements. The name Helios comes from that of the Greek Sun God, who was usually represented riding a chariot that was drawn by four, often winged, horses. His chariot rose daily into the heavens from the east and after blazing across the sky plunged into the western sea, thus bringing on the night. The sun's brilliant light emanated from the fiery crown that adorned Helios' head. Helios made the fruits of the earth ripen and, similar to the Roman God Apollo, was associated with music, the arts, archery, healing, prophecy and light.