We have been busy and are looking forward to projects opening their doors this spring. We are showcasing just a couple of them:
With First Companies:
CBD Consulting
CBD Consulting – Progress Photo of Break Room
We are partnering with Dixon Architecture to create a stunning building that will house CBD Consulting and their tenants. CBD Consulting enhances educational facilities through the power of technology, training educators and planning school technology systems. The new building reflects their cutting-edge approach and houses their offices and learning labs. Dixon is particularly pleased with the cantilevered second floor offices and r.o.i. Design is very happy with the stairwell lighting, the corridor birch columns, the ceiling bulkheads and pops of green and orange color throughout.
Complete Health Dentistry, Dr. Nick Ritzema DDS
Complete Health Dentistry – Progress Photo
We are partnering with architect James Brodi of Create 3 PLLC to create an industrial space that includes new interior brick, exposed ceilings and electrical conduit, polished concrete, reclaimed Grand Rapids ash reception desk, shelves, and beams. The use of interior glass, framed in black, is a simple and striking look. The lower breakroom island is built from faux-painted concrete block, giving the staff space its own urban look.
With Dykhouse Construction:
Mill Steel
Mill Steel – Progress Photo of New Break Room Cabinets
This third-generation business is moving to an existing 36,000 square foot building in southeast Grand Rapids, but not before an entire remodel. We are partnering with Dixon Architecture to create new exterior dormers, canopies, decks, and landscaping, as well as a complete demolition and reconstruction of the interior spaces. Looking to house a growing and young workforce, the new space is driven by expandable space, collaborative space, break room and café, and a generous training room. The bold blue of the Mill Steel logo is represented in the interior, along with some interesting details that include live plants in the break room, pivot doors that open up the break room to the training room, Dri-Design metal panels inside and out, bold carpet patterns, outdoor patio, and a fire pit.
Look for more stories about our designs for dermatologists, professional cleaners, furniture manufacturers, pediatric dentists, multi-family developments, automobile mirror manufacturers, and jewelry stores coming soon!
At the Northeast corner of the Campus View community sits an empty retail
building, the old Brian’s Books location. It is a cavernous, 9,250 square foot
building that is not ideal for a retail store or restaurant venture due to the
ebb and flow of a college town. Campus View was searching for a way to
transform the space into residential housing. They asked r.o.i. Design to look
at the building and come up with some ideas.
We landed on new housing approach that intertwines private rooms with
community living. The space was ideal to
handle a 24-unit complex with a central shared area, complete with a communal
kitchen, a lounge with a fireplace and large TV, exercise room, and on-site laundry.
Each of the units has a complete bathroom with tub/shower and a small
kitchenette with a sink, refrigerator, and microwave. The units will be fully
furnished with a full-size bed, desk, wardrobe, dressers, and a loveseat. There
will even be loft storage above the bathroom in each unit. Campus View has
named the property View Point and has already leased several of these suites to
students who are interested in the shared space with privacy concept.
For the redesign of the building, r.o.i. Design wanted to it to feel like a cool, urban, loft-like space. We call it “hipster-eclectic”, encompasses everything that is quirky, creative and bang on trend. Hipsters have wholeheartedly embraced a minimalist aesthetic that effortlessly mismatches several different trends and styles.
The exterior will get new metal siding, giving it a modern industrial look.
The interiors will feature an eclectic mix of surfaces, exposed ductwork and
pipes, and industrial light fixtures. Large factory-type wall stencils will
identify room numbers.
Construction on the building should take place this spring and hopefully be
open for students to move in this fall. Campus View will begin leasing the
space as soon as possible. It will be exciting to see this inventive new living
space take shape and add to the unique housing offerings at GVSU.
Recently we were asked to describe what our typical commercial
interior designs end up costing our customer for finishes and lighting. We
reached out to a general contractor customer asking them if our work with them
over the years resulted in any useable budget averages that we could share with
this inquiring new customer. Their response was very helpful:
“In our work with r.o.i. Design, no two projects look the same and seldom use the same finishes or details so it would be hard to quote ‘an average’ square foot cost. We have seen r.o.i. Design respond to very budget-driven projects, but they can also deliver competitive grade interior design.”
They went further to describe budgeting of an interior in a very understandable way, “When a customer asks about average square foot interior costs, we ask them what they think a typical bag of groceries cost. The response is the realization that a bag of groceries can range widely in cost depending on what is in the bag.”
And while that vague response doesn’t satisfy the question of what an interior may cost, it does help put a disclaimer to any budget number given before a qualified scope of the interior is created.
The ideal process to budgeting an interior:
Confirm the square footage being built or remodeled. Confirm the type of space and it’s intended use.
Confirm the “scope of the interior finishes”. What will be carpet, what will be resilient flooring, what will be tile flooring, what will be painted, what will be wallcovering, etc?
Determine the quality level of finish expected, ask what other spaces that are already built describe the desired outcome.
Using square footage numbers and consulting with the General Contractor, multiply typical costs (by the level of finish) by area.
This process results in scope and a budget that can be used
for the basis of design. In many cases, the first calculations require
revisions for a variety of reasons.
r.o.i. Design’s by-line is “Budget, Brand, and Beauty”. We aim to deliver them all, and in that order.
The benefit of starting with the budget and scope is that interior design decisions are less likely to need changes, creating less disappointment and fewer fees.
r.o.i. Design respects the team
approach in the design-build process where the architect, general contractor
and interior designer work together to agree on the scope of the work and
related budgets.
Triangle Associates has been keeping up operationally with its rapid growth over the last few years. And most recently that meant updating their corporate office interiors.
“Who we are as a company, our values, and our attitudes need to be represented in our workplace. It was time to make our office a more transparent and collaborative space to match our culture,” explains Mitch Watt, President of Triangle Associates.
Triangle has long offered design-build services for their customers and have in-house design, led by architect Aaron Jenks, but wanted interiors help. They called longtime friends and collaborators r.o.i. Design to work with them on interior concepts and finishes.
r.o.i. Design also provided recommendations for material selection that delivered design but offered opportunities for budget savings. Triangle Associates also consults with r.o.i. Design on procurement for their customer projects.
“We were very pleased to work on this team,” says Mary Witte, r.o.i. Design. “Triangle has always been a company with a strong foundation in design. Craig Datema and Mitch Watt are both architects and their leadership has made design one of their core values.”
Other things to know about Triangle Associates:
Triangle Associates is a client-centered construction company that provides construction management, general contracting, design-build, development, and sustainable building/LEED consulting services across a wide variety of market segments.
While they have been hiring and training to fill positions that have been created to manage the growth, they managed to already be recognized as a leader. Last December they were named one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® in the country for 2015 by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR). For 12 consecutive years, they have been named one of West Michigan’s 101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work For by the Michigan Business and Professional Association.
Triangle’s newly constructed Richard DeVos Graduate School of Management was recently awarded at the AIA 2016 Honors Awards. Triangle thanked both the AIA Grand Rapids and their partner TowerPinkster for the keen eye towards quality workmanship on their Facebook page October 18, 2016
Triangle received a 2016 Excellence In Construction Award for Hudsonville Public High School Project from the Associated Builders & Contractors West Michigan
Triangle received a 2016 Excellence In Construction Award for Standard Lifters from the Associated Builders & Contractors West Michigan: New Construction $1 – $5 Million
While Michigan has been “rich” with energy for several generations, recently r.o.i. Design has learned more about how communities are powered.
Through the invitation of Richard Skendzel of Architectural Technology in Traverse City, MI we met Wolverine Power Cooperative in Cadillac, MI and were engaged as interior designers for their new 40,000 SF corporate office. The new facility is being built adjacent to their existing offices on beautiful wooded acreage.
Planning for the housing of this growing team of engineers, planners, project managers and administrators has been the work of Eric Baker, CEO, Dawn Coon, Executive Assistant, and Tim Martin, Manager of Energy Operations.
The facility has been designed to nestle in the landscape, celebrating the Northern Michigan environs. The building sits low in the horizon but the interior spaces feel sky-high.
Some of our favorite features so far are the ceiling clouds, radius walls and specialty lighting. Project completion Winter 2016.
Not that long ago, we showed up at the City of Grand Rapids building department offices and we were greeted by “What old building are you working on now?” How did we get that recognition?
Maybe its because we renovated a 110 year furniture manufacturing building for our own offices, or maybe it’s because we were the designers of the first loft style work environment on the West Side of Grand Rapids more than 20 years ago, “The Grand Rapids Furniture Campus”.
But more recently, the recognition may be for our work with JGR Real Estate and another 100 year old manufacturing company.
JGR Real Estate Offices
Julie Grevengoed, Owner and Broker of JGR Real Estate purchased an vacant store front on the corner of Bridge and Seward in the West Side of Grand Rapids. JGR had to renovate the entire interior and improve the exterior façade to meet her business needs as well as the requirements of the City of Grand Rapids. r.o.i. Design created the space plan, lighting plan and worked with Wolverine Building, Mike Kelly, to help turn this once pawn shop into a contemporary and inviting space.
Currently we are working on another “antique” owned by an international company who is converting an old manufacturing space into a meeting and conference area for their North American operations. Their teams will gather here for training and innovative collaboration on designing new products. Project is scheduled for January 2016 completion.
It is also possible we are known for the design and re-purposing of old spaces because we have been in the business of delivering a return on investment to our design customers for more than 20 years.
100 Year Old Manufacturing Space Before Renovation
Other things to know about Triangle Associates:
