Robinson Green Beretta Architects

This year Robinson Green Beretta Architects (RGB) celebrates its 70th year as one of southern New England’s premier architectural, planning and interior design firms. Originally founded in 1946 as Cull and Robinson, the firm has built a solid reputation with clients as a leading architectural services provider.

Based in Providence, Rhode Island, RGB also has an office in Taunton, Massachusetts, giving the architecture firm a solid foothold in the New England market. Specializing in the municipal and commercial office markets, RGB has ample experience across a number of industry niches including education, entertainment, mixed use, retail, senior living and transportation.

RGB offers a comprehensive range of services including consulting, expert witness services, feasibility studies, graphic design, construction monitoring, space planning, 3D renderings and walkthroughs. RGB specializes in new and adaptive reuse and historic preservation efforts.

In addition to its full slate of architecture design services, RGB operates as an owner’s project manager (OPM), overseeing projects and representing the owner’s interests on site. “We represent many banks in New England and have been doing that since the 1970s,” says David DeQuattro, managing principal at RGB.

Capitalizing on a strong market

With the Greater Boston area and New England as a whole experiencing the largest construction boom in over a decade, RGB has kept busy completing projects in established sectors while exploring some new opportunities.

“The economy continues to do well and in the architecture business, if you know what projects will move forward six or eight months ahead of time, that’s as good as it gets,” says DeQuattro.

Working with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, RGB recently launched into its largest OPM effort to date with the $1 billion First Light Resort Casino in Taunton. When complete, the phased construction project will feature more than 4,000 gaming tables, as well as retail and entertainment space, hotels, structured parking and a water park.

As OPM, it is RGB’s job to juggle the myriad duties associated with such a large construction project. “The bigger the project and the more players involved, the more items and tasks to track and keep in focus – schedule, cost and quality,” says DeQuattro. By helping owners cut through the bureaucratic red tape involved with high-value projects like First Light, RGB can help save money and improve overall project efficiency.

“When you’re doing a billion-dollar project like that there is a lot of infrastructure that is needed to support it, so you’re dealing with State and Federal organizations that run at a different pace,” he says.

On the architecture side, RGB is in the process of completing plans for a new public safety facility for the City of North Providence. The $20 million development will include a police and fire station, parking garage, communal space and sports fields.

The company is also building on its longstanding reputation in the educational sector with two new projects including the O’Hare Academic Center at Salve Regina University and Rhode Island College’s Adams Library.

“K-12 and higher education has always been our wheelhouse,” says DeQuattro. Not content to wait for large educational construction contracts to come to them, RGB has worked to publicly advocate for local bond proposals, offering expert input on a project’s potential benefits and tax implications, as well as providing data and graphics. The strategy seems to have worked, with eight educational construction and renovation projects completed in recent months.

In a move that will ensure a healthy pipeline of new projects, RGB was recently awarded the DCAMM on-call service for interior projects for the state of Massachusetts. This designation places RGB on a shortlist of prequalified architects who can be called in on a moment’s notice to assist with study and design efforts.

“If they have projects they need fast, they don’t have to put it out to bid, they just call you up, you have a scope meeting and then you’re off to the races doing the job,” he says.

Employee satisfaction at the forefront

As work and lifestyle habits continue to change with the introduction of the next generation workforce, many companies have struggled to retain and attract qualified staff. “Satisfaction of the professional is very important because you want to keep a certain core of employees,” he says.

DeQuattro has seen the labor market change dramatically during his time in the industry and is always working on ways to show his appreciation for his team, seeing team members as the firm’s greatest strength.

“We’re helping lead that trend and trying to promote satisfaction with different events such as employee training and team-building events” he says. “We’ve got a good staff now that is organized and working well as a team and, as a result, RGB has had its most profitable year yet.”

DeQuattro has recently earned recognition as a certified Veteran-owned business that will help drive more work on the Federal level. “It allows us to do more work not only for Veterans Affairs, but also for other organizations that help our fellow veterans as they begin to recognize this certification,” DeQuattro says.

A strong presence in the educational sector and Veteran-owned status spells success well into the future for premier architectural, planning and interior design firm Robinson Green Beretta Architects.