GRBJ: Bay Harbor

We are excited to announce that we have added a new satellite office location! Our clients can now meet with us at our satellite office in Chicago, our home office in Grand Rapids or at our newest addition in Bay Harbor, MI!
The office is located in Bay Harbor Village at 4000 Main Street Bay Harbor, MI.

Our office is shared with Sotheby's real estate office in Bay Harbor. The location was perfectly suited for meeting with clients in the Northern Michigan area. It will allow our firm to design more waterfront homes. We have a lot of experience in waterfront architecture and we wanted to be in a community that would allow us to expand on our expertise. You can read the short article that was published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal late last week.

2014 Spring Parade of Homes

The Spring Parade of Homes kicks off tomorrow, May 23 at 1pm. The homes will be available to view until 9pm each day. The parade of homes is a great opportunity to see the fine craftsmanship and design trends of local builders, architects and interior designers. 

We have two homes in the Grand Rapids Parade of Homes this year. The first home is a mediterranean style and was built by Mike Schaap Builders. Located in East Grand Rapids this home was designed by Visbeen Architects with a perfect balance of warmth, luxury and functionality throughout. 

The second home is located in the Waterford Heights neighborhood and is built by White Birch Builders. This Visbeen designed craftsman home offers artfully crafted custom cabinetry to reflect the charming neighborhood it is located in. 

We are proud to share that our East Grand Rapids design was chosen as an Editor's Pick in Grand Rapids Cosmopolitan Home. 

We hope that many of you will get the opportunity to see the craftsmanship and design talents that have gone into creating these beautiful homes. 

To learn more about these projects you can visit the Parade of Homes website and search for Visbeen Architects or search the builder. 

The homes will be available to tour on the following dates and times:

Friday, May 23, 1pm-9pm

Saturday, May 24, 1pm-9pm

Monday, May 26, 1pm-9pm

Wednesday, May 28, 1pm-9pm

Friday, May 30, 1pm-9pm

Saturday, May 31, 1pm-9pm

Wednesday, June 4, 1pm-9pm

Friday, June 6, 1pm-9pm

Saturday, June 7, 1pm-9pm

Southern Living, In Style

Southern Colonial or low country homes are what you will find in the Palmetto Bluff community in Bluffton South Carolina. With distinct design features, these homes preserve the historical style that is found in this southern community. Commonly, Low Country homes are built with indigenous materials and decorated with neutral tones to create a seamless transition from the peaceful surrounding nature to the interiors of the low country homes. This style of home can be found in Virginia, Louisiana, the Carolinas and parts of Georgia.  

Common Features found in Low Country style homes:

• Steeply pitched roofs
• Multipane, tall, double-hung windows
• Wide, Welcoming front porch
• Tall foundation walls to protect against moisture damage
• Large columns lining the front entry

We have had an opportunity to design homes for the prestigious Palmetto Bluff community. Our designs offer simplistic beauty and functionality with large outdoor living spaces that seamlessly transition into the interiors. 

Georgetown

 Laurel

 Musgrove

 Yates

Williamsburg

Newly Finished Home: Georgetown

With porches on every side, the “Georgetown” is designed for enjoying the natural surroundings. The main level of the home is characterized by wide open spaces, with connected kitchen, dining, and living areas, all leading onto the various outdoor patios. The main floor master bedroom occupies one entire wing of the home, along with an additional bedroom suite. The upper level features two bedroom suites and a bunk room, with space over the detached garage providing a private guest suite.

We are excited to share that our home design, Georgetown, has been completed in Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina. 
This home, along with the Laurel, were a product of the combined efforts of  Visbeen Architects, Sam Liberti of Low Tide Designs and Developer, David Weekly Homes. 

 

Keep an eye on our website, Facebook and keep following our blog for more photos to come!

Project Team
Architect & Interior Architect: Visbeen Architects
Builder & Interior Design: Custom Classics
Designer: Low Tide Design

My Town: A.K. Rikk's

Some of you may have been watching WZZM 13 on Thursday of last week and had the chance to see the story about A.K. Rikk's! 

If you missed it, the story covered the news that A.K. Rikk's was featured in Elle magazine as a top shop for 2014. This is an amazing accomplishment for A.K. Rikk's! 

In 2012 A.K. Rikk's moved into their new location which was designed by Visbeen Architects.  The vision for the store was to have an alluring, sophisticated retail space that would express in architectural language the high quality and finely tailored merchandise that is offered to their clientele.

The interior of the store seamlessly flows to the exterior and into the green space which was designed for hosting events. The store is hosts high end clothing along with high end events. One event that has been hosted at the store is Runway for Charity. 

The event will be held again this year at the store on May 31st and hosted by A.K. Rikk's, Design 1 Salon Spa and Visbeen Architects. It features a fashion show with designer clothing and a raffle. All proceeds are donated to the Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital. 

2014 Runway For Charity

It is finally May which means it is time to prepare for the biggest event of the Season, Runway for Charity! Hosted by, A.K. Rikk's, Design 1 Salon Spa and Visbeen Architects, Inc, this event promises to be a night full of fun and fashion. All proceeds raised from this event will go to benefit the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.

This years event will be Saturday, May 31, 2014 and located at A.K. Rikk's 6303 28th Street SE Grand Rapids, MI. The doors will open at 7:30pm and the runway show is scheduled to start at 8:45pm. Garden seats and standing room only tickets are available for the event. In addition, raffle tickets are available for purchase at A.K. Rikk's, Design 1 Salon Spa and Visbeen Architects. 

Each year, the Children's Hospital will care for close to 9,000 inpatient and 190,000 outpatient children. The donations allows the hospital to treat all children in need of medical care, regardless of their ability to pay. 

Among the many programs at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, the Congenital Heart Center and the Center for Child Protection are just two programs that will benefit from the funds raised through the event. In addition, the patients and families that come to the Children's Hospital will be directly impacted by supporting Runway for Charity.

Don't forget to purchase your event and raffle tickets soon, they will not last long!

To purchase raffle tickets stop in at one of the following locations or contact Angela Mulder at angelam@visbeen.com or call 616-285-9901.

A.K. Rikk's - 6303 28th Street SE Grand Rapids, MI

Any Design 1 Salon Spa location 

Visbeen Architects - 4139 Embassy Drive SE Grand Rapids, MI

To Sponsor a table or to buy event tickets call Heidi Killingham at 616-361-0733. Or go to:

www.give.helendevoschildrens.org/runwayforcharity

To stay connected and up to date with the event:

Follow Runway for Charity on Facebook or on Twitter @runwayforcharity

Planning and Visual Education Partnership (PAVE) Gala

The Planning and Visual Education Partnership (PAVE) held their 17th annual Gala in December of last year. The event raised $170,000, a record breaking amount, which is used to fund retail design education for students and institutions. 

Pave was founded in 1992 by industry leading educators, media personnel, manufacturers, retailers and representatives. From the beginning, their mission has been to help design students gain exposure within the industry and to help with funding for student education and future careers. 

The PAVE Gala is held every year in New York and showcases select student work. This years project gallery featured mannequins dressed in black, white and hot apparel which was designed by students from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising of California.

Providing vision for future retailers, students of retail design and planning have the opportunity to compete in the Student Design Competition which is hosted by PAVE. 

Having been part of the team to start PAVE, we are happy to see how far it has come and the growing support for the program. Congratulations to this years winners of PAVE's Student Design Competition. We look forward to seeing the work of the students and the impact they will have on future retail environments. 

Golfing Season

Spring is here which means it is time to golf! 

The game was originally made popular in Scotland but today it is  a favorite around the world. 

Michigan is populated by a countless number of golf courses, each course is abounding with scenic views of the shoreline of our great and inland lakes making Michigan a popular golfing destination. 

With such beautiful scenery it is important for the club owners to have equally beautiful facilities. 

So the next time you are standing on the perfectly manicured greens of your favorite course  take a little time to appreciate the clubhouse, training facilities and proshop. 

Make sure you schedule a tee time soon. Happy golfing!

Check out some of the golf course designs by Visbeen Architects, each of which provide style and function to the golf course.

Training facility concepts

Clubhouse design concepts: