by Ryan | Oct 26, 2016 | Construction, Design News, Interior Design, Workplace Design
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
by Ryan | Sep 20, 2016 | Design News, Interior Design, Meeting and Conference, Workplace Design
Advantage Label says they “label with a purpose”. They work with their customers to create labels and packaging that present a quality product and promote sales. r.o.i. Design’s experience of Advantage Label was just that, they perform with purpose and wanted their office to show them as a place of quality, efficiency and pride.
Wolverine Building Group contacted r.o.i. Design to support their design process and we were asked to review lighting plans, select finishes and lighting, and help make the break room more of a restaurant than a cafeteria.
Using the red of their logo colors (which was also an accent color on the exterior of the building), r.o.i. Design added charcoals, blue gray and orange to the overall scheme to create depth and variety. The use of planked modular carpet tiles allowed accent colors to be introduced within a consistent field of carpet, without added costs.
For more about Advantage Label, CLICK HERE
by Ryan | Sep 13, 2016 | Design News, Interior Design, Meeting and Conference, Workplace Design
Wolverine Power Cooperative is a bold company, with big goals and a humble history. While r.o.i. Design enjoyed every aspect of our time with the group, what is lasting for us is their commitment to their customers, their hopes for their employees, and their desire to do the right thing.
Those values translated into a desire to make their new work place a space where collaboration, communication and innovation would thrive. That meant their new offices and employee culture would be making landmark changes in how they work. Their directive was to allow the space to be as transparent and as inclusive as possible, but also provide an inspiring environment for their business.
Rick Skendzel of Architecture Technology in Traverse City, MI, engaged r.o.i. Design to provide interior design services that included interior details, lighting design, light fixture selections, specialty millwork design and finish selections. Our close work with Skendzel, Wolverine’s Dawn Coon, and construction manager, Apex Engineering’s, Steve Steimel, was a dream team. We all were focused on the same goals, compromises were almost effortless.
Highlights of our design contribution include:
- Bringing a natural rhythm to ceilings in open areas with planes of wood and color, helping to organize a large space without adding walls.
- Highlighting the sense of innovation with a curved entry wall, LED lighting, textural surfaces and recessed niches to display historical elements.
- Using a “birds nest” pattern (symbolic of nature) into details at reception, café and board room.
- Adding dramatic lighting in café and open areas.
- Creating intimate arrangements of furniture to foster collaboration and interdepartmental socializing.
The history of their cooperative is inspiring and you can learn more about that here.
by Ryan | Aug 31, 2016 | Design News, Designing for Kids, Interior Design, Workplace Design
Shannon Orthodontics prides itself on its use of the latest research and technology and delivers an extremely friendly service. They want their customers to “achieve the smile they have always dreamed of”.
Shannon’s business practice far out-shown the interior of their offices. They wanted to deliver a complete experience, so Tom Shannon and wife Kate researched other offices in the area and found our work at JCL Periodontics. Tom and Kate liked the character and personality we brought to that space and after initial meetings decided to engage us in the redesign of their Grandville office.
Their newly designed offices were officially complete in July 2015 and the transformation is very satisfying to the Shannon team and to r.o.i. Design. Thank you to Rockford Trades for managing the remodel while they stayed open. It looks great!
Highlights of the design include:
- Flexible lobby seating creating greater capacity through use of backless benches.
- New decorative and in-ceiling LED lighting for a crisper look and far more efficient energy use.
- All new finishes, including modular plank carpet laid in herringbone pattern, all freshly painted walls, and new cabinetry and countertops. The reception desk was reclad in place.
- New wall art and signage.
Shortly after the project was complete, the Shannon’s made a short video of the interior as an advertisement that they ran during the Summer Olympics this summer. You can see that video on their Facebook page.
Now their Grandville offices reflect their business. Everything is straight and bright!
We start on their Plainwell location this year.
by Ryan | Aug 31, 2016 | Design News, Exhibit Design, Hospitality Design, Interior Design, Meeting and Conference, Workplace Design
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.
© Tiberius Images
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.
© Tiberius Images
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.
© Tiberius Images
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.”
© Tiberius Images
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.”
by Ryan | Aug 31, 2016 | Branding, Design News, Designing Public Areas, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Workplace Design
Campus View has been growing alongside Grand Valley State University for the last 50 years with a large inventory of apartments and town homes, and thousands of happy tenants. But as Grand Valley grows so do options for leasing and Campus View wanted to make their initial experience with potential new tenants reflect who they were more completely.
r.o.i. Design was engaged to redesign the “customer experience” in their lobby and entry. Campus View has made continual investment in amenities but those investments aren’t always visible to customers on their first visit, so the lobby had to become a welcome center and a “billboard”.
Removing the wall and counter that separated leasing staff from the inquiring customers was crucial. Opening up the space meant finding a way to lock down the office after hours, so r.o.i. Design created large sliding doors, that when closed, created a warm backdrop for the lobby.
The use of maple plywood to create office dividers, sliding doors, sales desk and the decorative panels in the hallway eliminated the coldness of the painted concrete block without having to drywall the entire space. The smaller block wall in the lobby was custom painted giving the block an intentional “artsy” look.
Campus View was so happy with the outcome that they sent us a personal thank-you that read, “We’re overjoyed with our updated facility and impressed with every aspect of working with your team. Thanks and we’d be thrilled to be a reference anytime. Cheers!”
For more about Campus View Apartments and Townhouses, click here.
