These are challenging times, but we know our ability to provide budget-brand-beauty interiors will set us apart. We have many projects in-house that require our attention and look forward to their continuation.
We have several projects through our partner, First Companies Inc. Those projects include dermatology offices, dental offices, and industrial/manufacturing offices in West Michigan. Including, but not limited to: Portland Dentistry by Design, Total Fire Protection, Wilkast, Cedar Springs Dentistry, The Derm Institute of West Michigan, and Wolverine Dermatology.
We are working with the City of Kentwood on a few projects based on previous work with the city. Ten years ago we designed their library.
Our work with new customer FCC Construction and their customer, American Immersion Theater, gave us the opportunity to show our theatrical “chops”.
Concept Rendering for American Immersion Theater
Mars Hill Bible Church asked us to assist them in the redesign of offices and children’s ministry areas, as they have sold half of their facility to Grandville Public Schools. It was just two years ago that we redesigned all of their kids’ ministry areas.
Most recently, we have engaged with the Kent County Office of the Defenders in their exploration of new offices in downtown Grand Rapids. This is in response to a request from the State of Michigan to expand its services. We are engaged with local contractors and furniture suppliers as we build budgets and feasibility for their expansion.
We have added new customers in the senior-living/multi-family category. We are pleased to be working with Darley Village in Spring Lake and continued work with Eagle Point Properties who has engaged us with their project in Virginia.
We have a variety of office projects that we are managing that serve the business community in finance and accounting.
We met Grand River Bank through Dixon Architecture and have been working with them for several months. This project reconnected us to BDR Construction, who hopes to deliver the space at 50 Crahan in Ada, Michigan in August 2020.
Grand River Bank Lobby Rendering
We were referred to Pennell CPA through our work with Stenger and Stenger, and we are providing oversite, design, and architecture. Pinnacle Construction is providing construction management.
Colorboard for Pennell CPA
We were referred to Evolution Wealth by BluHouse Properties. We are providing design and architectural services for their new location on Cascade in Grand Rapids.
In addition to our commercial work, we continue to engage with our clients to support their residential needs. We welcome all requests and interest in our ability to support residential planning. Currently, we have residential projects that range from existing home remodels to future residential construction.
Can’t find the perfect board room table? Need a storage cabinet that looks like a piece of furniture versus a laminate box? Want a custom-sized sofa? Need to incorporate graphics into custom pieces? We can help.
r.o.i. Design grew out of the furniture industry and we continue
to design custom furniture as part of our interior design services.
Ryan Bright, Creative Executive, has a degree in furniture design and met r.o.i. Design when he was a design intern for Widdicomb Furniture in 1999. Since joining r.o.i. Design he has designed many custom pieces for our customers.
Mary Witte, Owner and Creative Lead, owned a custom millwork company, Designers Workshop, which was purchased by Widdicomb Furniture. There she continued to design custom millwork and furniture and was acknowledged by the industry with an award from American Home for her designs.
Ronda Geyer, Procurement and Product Manager, coordinates our furniture vendors to make sure custom pieces are delivered and installed as designed.
We have maintained relationships with custom furniture makers and finishers that we met through our experience as furniture makers and still use today to fabricate custom pieces.
Some of our recent designs include:
Board Room Tables
Custom Millwork
Residential Storage
Clinic Desks
Lobby Upholstery
Custom Desks
From concept to installation, r.o.i. Design delivers custom furnishings fulfilling our promise to provide Budget, Brand, and Beauty.
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.
Do you ever wonder how those cool loft-type condos suddenly seem to emerge as if they had always been there? The answer is they are the result of years of planning, a developer’s vision and commitment, a great piece of historic real estate, and a team that knows how to put it all together.
r.o.i. Design is lucky enough to be on one of these teams, and we are so excited to be part of making RiverView Flats in historic Lowell, Michigan a dream come true for 14 home owners.
Todd Schaal and Jerry Zandstra have come together as developers to create this opportunity. They want to create homes in the former “car barn” of Unity Middle School along the picturesque Flat River. This building is complete with vintage masonry, tall ceilings, and spectacular views.
r.o.i. Design takes on the roles of interior design and marketing, as we work to set the stage for some creative living.
For more about RiverView Flats, we have attached some of the marketing materials we have created that describes the look, the feel, the layouts, and finish options. Download them here:
And if you have more interest than just design and would like to learn more, contact Todd at todd@estesgroup.com or 616-822-6477. Their website is riverviewflats.com
Our friends Hooker DeJong Architects and Engineers have referred us for a variety of projects in hospitality in the past, including Double JJ Ranch and Resort and Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility. So when their apartment developer clients asked them if they knew anyone who could work with them to finish the design and decor in their common areas, we were pleased that they thought of us. Projects of this caliber all have a requirement to offer a computer room, a community room, a laundry room, an exercise or activity room and a library. We have been very impressed with the facilities that we have been working with and are seeing these types of facilities being more and more interested in creating a community within their building.
Stuyvesant Apartments in Grand Rapids MI
Hooker DeJong and Wolverine Building Group.
Because of the historical nature of this project, it had the additional criteria of having historically-inspired decor. We were asked to use vintage photographs, which we researched through the collections at the Grand Rapids Public Library. Other decor consisted of a West Michigan theme, ranging from manufacturing to recreation.
Elevator Lobby Art of Belle Isle at St. George Tower
St. George Towers in Clinton Township, MI
Hooker DeJong and The Millennia Companies
This complete renovation is a wow! As we worked through selecting art and accessories, we sensed the pride the residents and the management had in this project. We enjoyed hearing comments from the residents who followed us around as we hung art and staged areas who looked over our shoulders and said, “I remember that place!” “That’s the Tech Center on Mound Rd? Sure looks different today!”
Lobby of Stuyvesant Apartments with Historic Photos of Site
Probably the most difficult thing for a recently graduated design student entering the workforce is the perceived limitation that a budget has on their design. And it isn’t always just the young professional, sometimes the customer is deflated that initial planning has to start with a discussion on budgets. “We don’t want to limit your creativity” is the cry, “Can’t we just let you design and then price it all out?”
The answer is “of course”, but we caution that redesign also creates more design fees and in some cases an extended schedule. And always some disappointment.
So what is the r.o.i. Design solution to managing budget and creative expectations? We focus on the customer:
Overall, we are open and flexible about product selections, knowing that the budget isn’t completely known on start and change will be needed.
No design should be dependent on any one element; everything is replaceable.
We also remind ourselves continually that the perception of quality is a standard the customer sets, not the designer.
We are happy when our customer is happy.
Then we practice at least six budget disciplines when designing. They are: (more…)
