In 1991, Roald founded a design/build and forestry firm in Stoddard, WI where he developed a new use for managed forest thinnings as an affordable, renewable building material for agricultural, residential and commercial applications. He worked as a one-man design house to help provide design services for homes, offices, agricultural greenhouses and attached solar greenhouses.

For the past 16 years, Roald Gundersen has been empirically testing the feasibility of using whole tree round timber technology to construct beautiful, strong, economical and extremely green buildings.

In 2007, Roald partnered with Amelia Baxter to found WholeTrees Architecture and Structures, and several new staff members have joined the team in response to increased demand and expansion into commercial and institutional markets.