View Point Studio Living

4282 Pierce Street
Allendale, MI 49401

Campus View, a major player in student housing in Allendale, MI, wanted to create a different housing option for the student who wants a private personal space but still needs to be connected to a community. They own the building formerly housing “Brian’s Books” near Pierce Road and 48th Street just south of the Grand Valley State University Campus. They decided to turn this 20-year-old retail space into View Point, with 24 small studio apartments, an open lounge area, a common kitchen, an exercise room, and a laundry room.

Keeping the basic architecture of the building, we had to conceive an exterior finish that would separate it from its former retail storefront look. One of the main front gables was minimized and the face of the building was sided in three different colors of metal panel to create random vertical stripes. We highlighted the entrances with a dramatic asymmetrical face of dark siding contrasted with warm wood planking around the entry doors.

These design criteria resulted in some fun details in the interior common areas:

• Oversized, 24-inch tall apartment numbers stenciled on the walls
• Funky wicker woven corridor light fixtures
• Planked and octagonal modular carpet patterns in random patterns
• Custom canvas art using iconic Grand Valley State University names and places
• Found and repurposed items for decor

View Point offers its residents a well-appointed one-room apartment with a full bathroom. Each unit includes a small kitchenette area with solid surface countertops, study area, sitting area with a wall-mounted TV, and a bed with trundle storage. Just outside each unit is a lounge area with seating, a huge TV, and a spacious common kitchen with an 18-foot island and personal storage for each resident.

For more about View Point, please visit campusviewhousing.com.

Campus View Apartments – Entries & Corridors
Allendale, MI

r.o.i. Design was asked by Campus View to design common area interiors of the four oldest apartment buildings at their Allendale site, just yards from Grand Valley State University. Celebrating the 50-year-old buildings, the design included 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.

Hidden Lakes Club House
Kentwood, MI

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! Of special note:

Campus View Apartments Leasing & Clubhouse Lobby
Allendale, MI

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.