Married business partners Rebecca and Matthew McGeorge have learned how to work together to interpret the space needs of their clients.
As owners of McGeorge Architecture Interiors LLC, they have succeeded in some ways by not specializing. Their architecture and design choices are seen across Rhode Island, in corporate offices and headquarters, in restaurants and hotels, medical offices, event spaces and university buildings.
In 2017, the small company will take on a premier assignment. They recently were selected as architect and interior-design firm for the rehabilitation of the historic buildings at Pontiac Mills, in Warwick, which is undergoing a $25 million redevelopment.
In the past two years, they’ve completed a crisp, new office and rooftop deck overlooking Newport Harbor for the Newport Yachting Center and Marina, and the elegant and soothing Summit Medical Compassion Center, a medical-marijuana dispensary in Warwick.
Founded in 2010, McGeorge Architecture Interiors is approaching $1 million in annual sales, according to Matthew McGeorge, who previously worked as an architect at several companies in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Rebecca McGeorge, whose background is in design, said their preference for a variety of work has led to interesting projects.
“We like to do interesting things,” Rebecca McGeorge said. “That’s one of the nice things about being a small company that we own. We don’t have to specialize in anything. We do everything from the dispensaries to medical offices, to the Pontiac Mills site, which is 14 buildings on the river.”
The work with Summit is a good example of how they interpret the needs of a client. Summit wanted a calm and soothing, relaxed environment, explained Matthew McGeorge. “Some warm materials and spaces for seating and consultation,” he said. His wife selected deep-stained poplar counters and woodwork, and soft paint colors that played on, without mimicking, the company logo.
For the dispensary counters, which display the items that customers can purchase, the casing had to be secure, but the client wanted it to look elegant as well. They devised a solution that includes flexible, directed lighting wands.
“The lighting was critical. We were given the directive to make it almost like a jewelry store,” McGeorge said.
The McGeorges also recently redesigned offices in Cumberland for The Hershey Co. and Unilever.
“Very rarely does a client come to us and say, ‘This is what we’re envisioning,’ ” Rebecca McGeorge said. “When you’re getting into the corporate interiors, they have a corporate image they want to maintain and uphold. A lot of what we do is hear what they’re saying and try to translate that into a visible space.” •
