Concept document for some of the furnishings for Arbors at Ironwood
Not all of our projects are located in West Michigan! We recently wrapped up a project in Mishawaka, Indiana, providing clubhouse and office furnishings for a multi-family apartment community. The complex, The Arbors at Ironwood, is one of several communities managed by Eagle Point Properties. Eagle Point, based in Maine, and r.o.i. Design have worked together on several projects previously, some as far away as Virginia! They contracted with Wolverine Building Group to handle the renovations and r.o.i. Design to provide the furniture and wall décor that would make the Clubhouse and Leasing offices an inviting place for the residents to gather.
As residents enter the Clubhouse, they are greeted with a sitting area outside the leasing offices where they can wait comfortably. The main room boasts a sofa and comfy lounge chairs in front of a cozy fireplace, as well as dining tables and chairs to seat 16. The full kitchen has a counter with additional seating. The Ironwood community houses three computer lab stations for residents’ use! The leasing and management offices also received a facelift with new desks, filing, and seating.
The final touch was the addition of new wall decor. The images that were selected were chosen to further highlight the features of the area. This is something we have done at their other locations, and it has been enthusiastically received! It’s a small touch that helps personalize the space and reflects the community it serves.
Some of the furniture and decor installed at Arbors at Ironwood
For r.o.i. Design, furniture is integral to the design. Quite often we have the opportunity to work with our customers in selecting and designing the furniture and furnishings in their space. This is important to us because it elevates the design to a very personal level, where people are touching, sitting, and experiencing the design in visceral ways.
When we have spent the effort to help a professional service client create a welcoming, branded feel in their interior, sometimes it requires a non-typical office furniture solution.
When we have worked diligently to create a restaurant, lobby, or corporate space that wants to look like a hip restaurant, the furniture may not be able to be compiled from standard options. Thus, we have provided specialty services around furnishings for our customers.
Often, we have been engaged to work with one of many of our local office furniture providers to advocate for our customer, consulting on furniture styles and finishes.
We design custom furniture and work with our customers to find the best resource to create those pieces.
Recently we have been working with fabricators experienced with integrating technology into furniture, creating medical and professional desks.
We have created many custom conference table designs, exploring finishes and details to create an ideal meeting and conference environments.
There is also the need for furnishings that look residential but need to be contract-grade. Providing contract quality guarantees for wear and maintenance.
We have also designed procurement programs for developers, working directly with manufacturers to be able to design, select, purchase, and deliver common area furnishings for multi-family facilities.
Furniture has a functional and aesthetic responsibility in
commercial interiors and planning for appropriate furnishings take intention
and focus.
West Michigan Dermatology – Holland, MIPark East Court – Grand Rapids, MI
Campus View Apartments are located directly adjacent to the campus of Grand Valley State University. Campus View had the vision 50 years ago to purchase and develop property near GVSU to provide apartments for students. Today they have more than 400 units and continue to expand to serve the off-campus student housing needs.
r.o.i. Design had the privilege to work with them in 2016 to update their main lobby and leasing offices. This year we were asked to help them refresh the look of the four original apartment buildings. Those original apartment buildings were built in the 1960’s, featuring shag carpet and paneled wood walls. While the apartments have been updated, r.o.i. Design recommended a retro look for the common areas and corridors.
Our design included a mid-century modern use of patterns, colors, and light fixtures. The apartment hallways leave little doubt where the entries are with a bold accent of color at each door.
In addition to the corridors, r.o.i. Design designed building signage for the site that blends with the architecture but again, has a bold retro look.
The reports are that students are loving the upgrades, and Campus View is realizing new leases.
r.o.i. Design continues to work with Campus View in new projects that will open in 2019. From more information on Campus View go to campusviewhousing.com.
Apartment complex developments depend on their leasing office and shared amenities to give their customers a sense of their brand and values. Those spaces also say something about the company’s aesthetic. Hidden Lakes Apartments in Kentwood, Michigan initiated a two-year remodeling of their clubhouse, game room, leasing office and outdoor pool in 2015.
Wolverine Building Group project manager, Landon Jones, contacted r.o.i. Design to design the interiors. The project celebrated its grand reopening in November 2017.
In addition to selecting all finishes, r.o.i. Design selected all art and furnishings, supplying many of them. The clubhouse lounge furnishings look amazing! Great job, thanks to Ronda Geyer, our Procurement and Purchasing Manager.
Some other favorite elements of the remodeled space include:
Large format wall tile and a wall hung credenza in the Lobby
New LED chandeliers in the Clubhouse Lounge
Recessed wall fireplace and built-ins in the Leasing Office
Manufacturing giant Hutchinson Worldwide has one of their anti-vibration plants in Grand Rapids, MI and that location was selected to be the location for their North American Innovation Center, 616 Fab House. The facility includes a 100 year old factory that originally began as Corduroy Rubber. The historical nature of this plant was in part the reason it was selected as an innovation center as it showcases the historical presence of Hutchinson in the US.
Through a competitive process, r.o.i. Design was selected as the design team to plan the innovation center and over a year the plans developed to include 13,400 square feet of a renovated third floor space. In that space there are video conference rooms, executive conference rooms, training rooms, lounge space, exhibit space and hospitality. In addition to the innovation center space, a new entry tower and approach to the 616 Fab House was designed. Working with Architectural Concepts, Ken Watkins, r.o.i. Design provided complete design and construction documents.
r.o.i. Design’s goal in the design was to celebrate the structure, including the vintage wood beams and columns, the original brick and wood floors, in contrast with the clean, new modern additions of glass, steel and technology. LED lighting was added using fixtures that blend with the historical envelope, providing light and drama without adding unneeded decoration.
Steelcase’s MediaScape products were installed in the space, allowing for multi-faceted video conferencing between Hutchinson offices and their global customers.
The modern space was enhanced with reproductions of historic photos that tell the French and American story of Hutchinson and Corduroy Rubber.
r.o.i. Design is grateful for this opportunity and were very impressed with the focus and dedication of the Hutchinson team and look forward to their continued growth and contributions.
From January 20, 2016 mlive article: French auto and aerospace supplier opens North American innovation center… “The 616 Fab House, which formerly served as a storage area, was built in just under eight months with Pinnacle Construction serving as general contractor and R.O.I. Design handling architectural and design services. About 10,000 square feet of unused space on the third will allow for future expansion.”
The 616 Fab House is Hutchinson’s second innovation center, with the other being the 507 Fab House, located in Montargis, France, near Hutchinson’s Paris world headquarters, according to a company news release. That facility was built by the legendary Gustave Eiffel.
The innovation center, 616 Fab House is part of Hutchinson’s 30-acre campus, is dedicated to research, development and innovative thinking for all of Hutchinson’s divisions.
“It is our intent to use the 616 Fab House as a place to connect using our state-of-the-art video and audio conferencing systems to bring customers together with Hutchinson’s global capabilities,” said Hutchinson North America President and CEO Cedric Duclos. “Additionally, we aim to use this space to foster innovative thinking and brainstorming. Using our touch screen technology and a variety of meeting spaces, we provide a setting that inspires creative, problem-solving thinking that drives Hutchinson’s business forward.”
It isn’t easy to be cool. And hospitality design is a cutting edge market. A national hotel brand knows design and technology are key factors in property improvement plans.
Properties that want to maintain their status with a national hotel brand undergo regular inspections to make sure their property meets the standards of the brand. During the recession a few years ago, there was some leniency in compliance, but since 2011 national brands are less likely to look the other way. There has been a conscious attrition of properties by the savvy big names who know that they have to compete in each market by scrutinizing and discerning customers.
Today’s customers are technically plugged-in. They are informed and that doesn’t give a hotel property much wiggle room when it comes to meeting expectations. National brand websites promote an experience that needs to be delivered whether in Anchorage or Miami.
Hotels that want to establish a relationship with a national hotel brand have a rigorous review. Existing hotels that haven’t updated their properties in the last 3-5 years are being challenged by the costs related to required updates.
The areas that challenge the existing property and could be higher priorities on a PIP (Property Improvement Plan) include:
Technology
From registration to check in, in-room stay and checkout, the customer expects to control their experience through their online capabilities.
In-room TV’s are monitors with streaming TV, and customer access to their business and personal sites needs to be immediate.
In-room services
Customers want the ability to make their home for a night meet their needs. Whether that means writing a business report, taking along a pet, eating in, exercising in or conducting a virtual business meeting.
Interior design
If properties haven’t updated since 2011, they are faced with changes in customer expectations in lighting, bedding, finishes and furnishings (in that order).
Property services
Not that long ago the pool and fitness center was a “must have”, and while still preferred for general business and personal accommodations, it is out-ranked by giving the guest enough room in their room to be able to exercise. Resort hotels still need fitness centers, pools and spas.
While today’s guest doesn’t need a real front desk, they do need at least the ability to find a small meal, a beverage, the equivalent of a local concierge or “helper”.
Hotel developers who are building today, find the requirements by a national hotel brand to be both more specific and strict, but also more consultative. Brands are very eager to have strategically placed and built properties and those requirements come with costs, so most hotel companies want to appear to be and in most cases, be helpful.
r.o.i. Design is seeing an emerging trend in national hotel brands that further separates those properties from the boutique hotels and the resort hotels. The boutique and resort hotels are able to provide unique style and services based on a developer or regional preference. Customers are discerning and are deciding if their stay requires a national brand, a boutique hotel or a resort experience.
Apartment complex developments depend on their leasing office and shared amenities to give their customers a sense of their brand and values. Those spaces also say something about the company’s aesthetic. Hidden Lakes Apartments in Kentwood, Michigan initiated a two-year remodeling of their clubhouse, game room, leasing office and outdoor pool in 2015.
