Ghafari Associates LLC, a global architecture and engineering firm, announced Nov. 3, 2022 it will hold an official grand opening of its new space in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. The private event is a celebration of the newly renovated 8,500-square-foot office space overlooking Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids, featuring design inspiration from the firm’s recent hospitality projects. Tom Tooley, AIA, executive vice president of Ghafari Associates in Grand Rapids, noted creating a functional and inspirational environment for staff to work collaboratively in the space and between offices was one of the main goals of the project. “The incorporated advanced technology to work across offices…
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Energy in scale
In the wake of uncertainty across social, economic, and environmental systems, and as many stand on the cusp of cautious optimism for the future, the idea of resiliency has emerged as a vital, multifaceted concept for individuals and industries. Resilience is about the capacity and tenacity of the human spirit and industrial endurance to not only survive, but thrive in the face of external forces and disruptive stressors. It is a concept and often comprehensive strategy with a diverse interpretation as it is applied to operations, communities, coastal environments, and the personal experience. When Ghafari Associates LLC, an architecture and planning firm headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, was tapped in late…
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Ford Airport’s operations center
On June 30, 2021, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan broke ground on a new $7.7 million operations center that will house key teams such as operations and communications, dispatch, and a new emergency operations center, or EOC. The 11,600-square-foot facility will streamline daily activities and day-to-day management at the airport, as well as serve as a community safety resource. Stephen Clark, the director of commercial development at Gerald R. Ford International Airport, stated that the new facility will act as the heartbeat and the lifeline for the airport, as it will bring teams that are critical to the airport’s day to day operations together in…
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Ted Lott, AIA, LEED AP
Lott3Metz Architecture LLC Owner, Principal Grand Rapids, Michigan There is a moment in good design when a bell tone rings out pure and true as the nuanced elements of form, function, and context come together to make a project truly sing. It is in this instance, which may not happen every day or in every project, that Ted Lott, AIA, LEED AP, owner and principal at Lott3Metz Architecture LLC in Grand Rapids, Michigan finds moments of joy. “Design is a form of communication. It certainly is a language that can be used coarsely or elegantly, and there is certainly a commodity aspect to it, which is often times in…
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MDRD in cityscape
The skyline in Grand Rapids, Michigan could be considered one of the most changed in the Midwest, with development projects and creative moments of design found around most corners of the downtown core, which spreads along western Michigan’s Grand River. It is a burgeoning travel destination with a bent for hospitality, with several recent hotel projects hosted in hospitality families like Marriott and Hilton. Its flair for hosting the regional and international traveler uniquely pairs with the city’s intimate, mid-sized metropolitan feel and unique dining destinations that harness flavor profiles from traditional and Louisiana-style French cuisine to Asian fusion and Japanese eateries, and jovial tapas bars. In 2020, one of…
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L’atelier de mode
Silk. Lace. Glamour. For RC Caylan, fashion designer and studio founder of RC Caylan Atelier LLC in Grand Rapids, Michigan, fashion design is about timeless beauty, simple elegance, and meticulous detail. Silhouettes are well-tailored, fabrics are luxurious and intentionally meant to add texture or soften overall creations, and vintage glamour, bold statement, and dynamic movement bring each piece to couture life. For the past five years, RC Caylan has made a name for himself at both the local and international level, showcasing a deft ability to pivot from bridal couture at his namesake brand studio in Grand Rapids to avant-garde gowns and street style men’s fashion at runways in San…
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Natural energy
From daytime textile designers to moonlighting developers of sustainably dyed fabrics, the trio behind the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Eso Studio are driven by a passion for textile design that has come to include equal parts art and science. Inspired by the renewal energy of nature and committed to the act of reusing, the designers form a studio dedicated to natural, hand-worked dyeing processes that have been used to design sustainable textiles for hundreds of centuries. Their individual expertise spans the interiors and textile industries, from a Midwest handbag company and international brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton to a commission for the White House Family Dining Room, and it was…
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Ocean Intersection
Building upon its innovative and ergonomic office furnishings, the Steelcase Inc. name has come to embody a unique corporate and industrial value for sustainability. Whether through surface material partners specializing in sustainable leather or timber, or a sweeping carbon negative initiative—built off of its recent achievement of operational carbon neutrality—Steelcase Inc. of Grand Rapids, Michigan has been invested in sustainable materials and processes since inception. In one of its newest projects, Steelcase has partnered with Duvaltex, a Québec-based, leading North American office furniture textile manufacturer and engineer, and its CLEAN IMPACT TEXTILES™ brand, to create a screen and panel fabric called Intersection, which is made from Upcycled Marine Plastic. The…
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A leader in architecture
With a population that has grown nearly seven percent in a decade, and an ever-developing city core with new infrastructure, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has become a destination for living and working that is still uniquely malleable, in more ways than one. The city, the second largest in Michigan—but a relatively small one in the overall Midwest—is already an established 2030 District with goals of cutting net carbon emissions in half by 2030 and entirely by 2050, and it hosts a variety of restaurants and breweries that are certified B Corporations dedicated to nourishing sustainable and inclusive economies. Architecture plays a key part in the social and environmental wellbeing of a…
