The great room in the home of Bob Bower, president of Archtype Structures, features curved wooden beams. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

WEST GARDINER — Nearly a decade of research, planning, building and refining has brought two area businessmen to the point of expansion they’ve been doggedly pursuing.

“We’re getting set up to do one more regimen of testing, structural performance testing,” Thom Labrie said. “And those tests will determine how much wind our structures could stand up against.”

It’s not a new idea, but it is an improved one. When fully assembled on a slab or basement foundation, or even suspended on a platform, Labrie and partner Bob Bower said their homes are super energy efficient, virtually weatherproof, easy to construct and very competitively priced and they are happy to prove it to you.

If you like wood beams and curves, the buildings are stunning and can be configured any way the customer wants — including commercial applications.

Coming Sunday, take a closer look at the concept and the entrepreneurs behind it.