About Us
The Rouge River Group was formed to create spaces in which people enjoy life, learn and prosper. Because good design requires a profound understanding of history, society, human beings and the natural environment, we continuously strive to develop that understanding and find ourselves fascinated and charmed, over and over, by the complexity of the connections between people and their buildings.
When we survey the crisis which grips our home town, we are painfully reminded of the inadequacies of the society in which we live. But in our projects, we seek to develop those elements and tools which hold a part of the promise of a bright future. In that sense, our work is optimistic. It must, at once, be candid and truthful, acknowledging the constraints and difficulties we confront.
Our sense of design has its roots in modernism and, through it, in the origins of structure for human habitation. The trials of the last hundred years have warn deep furrows in the collective visage of design. All of human culture struggles with confusion and disorientation in the wake of decades of domination by the weeds of post-modernism. We join Spinoza, not to laugh or to cry, but to understand and to clarify.
In designing structure, we aim to articulate and artfully express the flow of the load. We acknowledge complexity and contradiction in our lives, but seek the elegance of simplicity in a unified, coherent understanding of them. As with aesthetics, our work can take on shades of personality from an individual, or a couple, or, in a larger project, express the character of an organization, or an educational program. We have an obligation to our clients, and also to the context in which we work.
Director
Tim Nichols asks the right questions to analyze a client’s affinity for a particular style and to identify needs that others might miss. He holds a degree as Master of Architecture from Lawrence Technological University and, in a career spanning more than four decades, has worked on diverse projects from Alaska to Surinam. He has published numerous articles on the history of architecture and art and last summer traveled to Greece to participate in the Lost Vanguard Found exhibition at the State Museum in Thessaloniki. Tim brings a wide and varied experience to the company which can be felt in every project.
Design
Rufino Labra leads our design team. He joined our antecedent, Building by Design, in 2005 while still an architectural undergraduate at Lawrence Technological University. Already the veteran of ten years in his father’s construction company, Rufino quickly established his many skills on the job site and began to express a firm grasp of design vocabulary. Following graduation, his work in the company developed quickly. Clear logic in the plan, fluid circulation and proportional balance of space and use form the unmistakable signature of his work.
Who We Work With
One of the key ways to make a project affordable is to use people who are the best in their field, and use them on specific areas of the project related to their expertise.
Some of our associates:
Jesse T. McDonald, P.E.
Murphy Floor Company
Northville Lumber Company