DMR: From the Archives

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

Since 1991, DMR has designed thousands of projects representing billions of dollars in construction value.

In this special section, we are going into the archives to look back on projects and moments that changed the course of our firm.

THE NIGERIA STORY

The Adeyemi family in Nigeria. Fola is holding a young Kunle.

It all started in the late 1970s, when Lloyd spent several years commuting to Nigeria to complete a major project, the National Educational Technology Center, in Kaduna.

THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Fola and Lloyd.

FROM THE 1970S...TO 2017

During the project, Lloyd was working closely with a local architect Fola Adeyemi, one of the first to form an architecture firm in Nigeria, and became close to him and his family. One of his children, Kunle, was only a small child. Thanks to LinkedIn, Lloyd and Kunle were reconnected nearly 40 years later. Turns out, Kunle had a thriving architectural career and even earned a post-professional degree here in New Jersey at Princeton University. While Amsterdam is his current home base, and where he runs his own architecture firm, NLÉ, from, he was back in Princeton in October 2017 for a guest lecture. At the lecture, Lloyd and Kunle were reunited.

Kunle and Lloyd at Princeton University.

DMR AROUND THE WORLD

International projects have spanned four continents, including projects in Costa Rica, Romania, Nigeria and China.

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

The project called upon American architects to help plan and build a 500 acre campus, which was to function as a self-contained city. In addition to the university and its amenities, the campus included housing, shopping areas, medical facilities, fields, a clubhouse, and schools. The university included 12 academic buildings, an 85,000 SF administration building, student dining and numerous other facilities. The feat took 5 years, more than 50 flights, and many days spent in a safe house during two coups.

THE BREWSTER STORY 1991

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

1994

The Brewster Central School District was one of DMR’s first clients. Over many years, DMR’s relationship with Brewster saw renovations to each of the schools through construction, and also included a new, 50,000 SF elementary school, Cornelius Vander Starr Intermediate School. The building incorporated bold colors, geometric shapes and a two-story, sky-lit common area at the entrance. The school advanced many trends in teaching and technology that we take for granted now, such as flexible teaching spaces that allowed for team teaching, video displays that communicated school news in the lobby and Apple computers.

THE RUTHERFORD SENIOR CENTER STORY Our projects have spanned many interesting locations and have required even more creative solutions.

It’s a part of our culture and approach that goes back as far as we can remember, like in 1994, when we designed a new senior citizen’s activity center - inside a parking garage. With the borough strapped for space, utilizing a portion of the first floor of the garage proved to be the perfect location for the 5,800 SF center.

THE VIETNAM VETERAN’S MEMORIAL STORY

1998

Over the course of several years in the early 90s, DMR helped create the New Jersey Vietnam Veteran’s Educational Center & Memorial in Holmdel. When it opened it 1998, the Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center was the first educational center and museum of its kind in the United States. DMR was part of a team of many professionals who donated their time and talent to construct the monument and museum in honor of New Jersey’s men and women who gave their lives in the line of duty and those considered missing in action. It was one of our first projects with an important community impact, but certainly not our last. We have always sought out non-profit and charitable organizations who require our services, a commitment that ultimately led to the creation of the DMR Foundation in 2021.

THE SPARTA STORY 2000

After three years of collaboration with the Sparta Board of Education, in 1996 voters passed the $27 million referendum that would pave the way for the construction of a new middle school.

When the school opened in 2000, the 127,000 SF facility was a milestone achievement during DMR’s early years, and at the time, was the largest building in Sussex County.

2001

THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON STORY

Beginning in 2000 and continuing for more than 15 years, DMR worked for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital on 20+ projects that spanned more than 100,000 SF cumulatively across the hospital’s campus.

The assignments were reflective of the healthcare climate, where spaces require constant adaptation to satisfy new technologies and medical practices.

Satisfying these needs required our team to often find space where new projects could be accommodated, and creatively rework these existing spaces. In one case, this meant renovating one of our own projects, completed several years before.

That building was the PET Imaging Center.

In 2001, we first designed the 8,000 SF space to house what was at the time the hospital’s newest equipment. Yet, as technologies changed, by 2008, that space was no longer functioning at optimum efficiency. We were called upon to renovate our own previous work, only several years old at the time, and transform it into an employee health center.

PET Imaging Center, 2001

Heart & Kidney Transplant Center, 2010

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

The school, which accommodates 1,100 students in grades 5-8, was based on a house plan in which grades 5-6 are located in one wing and grades 7-8 in another, with the two wings connected by a hub for administration. A third wing, attached at the rear of the building in a circular design, includes the gymnasium, technology labs and cafeteria.

2000

DMR relaunches the website as dmrarchitects. com, the same as it is today, and each employee becomes reachable at individual email addresses.

DMR: THROUGH THE YEARS

1991

DMR is founded on July 15 by a staff of four, led by Lloyd Rosenberg, in Rochelle Park, NJ. With a vision to focus on primarily pre-K-12 educational work, the firm sets out to land its first client, which turns out to be the Brewster Central School District. A satellite office in White Plains, NY is also opened to help complete the project.

1995

DMR moves to a 5,000 SF office in Maywood, NJ. In the new office, we start using email and the entire office has one email address.

1994

After a few years focusing primarily on educational projects, DMR adds its first healthcare, corporate office and interior design projects to our portfolio.

Sony Corporate Headquarters, New York, NY

1992

DMR adds marketing, accounting and administrative staff, bringing the team size to eight. From 1992 - 1996, DMR added several staff members that are still on our team today, kicking off a tradition of staff tenure that averages 10 years.

1997

DMR joins the World Wide Web! dmr-arch. com, the firm’s first website, is launched.

Charles Sarlo joined as general counsel in 2001, an unusual move for an architectural firm of our size.

Yet Charles' unique academic qualifications including engineering, business and

2007

2005

2001 law degrees turned out to be the perfect complement to our existing talent. Today, we consider the sum of our in-house talent to be unparalleled in our industry.

2005

We move again to Hasbrouck Heights.

2005

We were first assigned a contract with the New York City School Construction Authority, a relationship has grown to include more than 250 projects (and counting).

2008

With the addition of Francis Reiner to our team, our professional planning department as we know it today was formally developed. Francis helped grow our planning division to include a roster of many of New Jersey's largest and most well-known municipalities, including Hackensack, which has remained a planning client for more than 10 years.

Hackensack, NJ

DMR: THROUGH THE YEARS

When we were commissioned to design the rail station that would first bring rail service to the Meadowlands, we had not designed a rail station before. Yet through our design philosophy fueled by a commitment to overcoming challenges through ingenuity and creativity, we created a facility that was praised by transit professionals.

Our sustainable design practice took off in 2007, with the completion of St. Joseph's School for the Blind and Carlstadt Elementary School. While today many sustainable features are implemented as a standard, in 2007, pitching sustainable design was new. Carlstadt Public School went on to become the first LEED Silver certified school in New Jersey and the first LEED certified building in Bergen County.

2015

DMR: THROUGH THE YEARS

The Beijing Tourism Society invited Lloyd to China to speak at the Qiandongnan Summit, their annual conference focusing on preserving the traditional Chinese Village. The trip also included private tours of villages in southwestern China, including Guiyang, Kaili City, Qiandongnan and Lishui.

2016

Being awarded the Frank J. Gargiulo Campus, our largest project to date, just as we celebrated 25 years in business was a thrill. The 350,000 SF project was a massive effort. Yet we never wavered from the commitment we made in 1991 to provide important architectural services to school districts, no matter the size. That same year, we brought on more than 25 pre-K-12 projects valued at less than $1 million.

2021

2017

We start the year with a national ranking on Real Estate Forum’s fastest growing companies.

2017

For the first time in 25 years, DMR names partners.

As we celebrated our 30th anniversary, we form the DMR Foundation, to increase our support of the services that are most important to our clients and friends.

THE JERSEY CITY JUSTICE BUILDING STORY

Today, police, emergency operations, court and similar civic facilities are a niche project type for DMR, establishing us as 2001 experts in the field of public safety design and growing our portfolio to more than 20 buildings of this type. Our commitment to this sector began in the late 90s with the assignment to design the new, 71,000 SF Jersey City Justice Building. The project called upon our designers to design a facility that evoked a strong sense of civic pride and identity and served as a catalyst for revitalization of the surrounding urban neighborhood. The building, which opened in 2001, includes a large brick arch, visible from the street and the plaza, to reinforce the building’s public image for use and access. The exterior includes multiple colors and textures, complementing the smaller buildings and human scale of the pedestrian neighborhood. Key to the design is the usage of masonry to form a curved façade, depicting warmth and openness.

Even years before DMR’s thriving professional planning department as we know it today was 2005 born, our vision as a firm included an eye for redevelopment. In 2005, Somerset Development retained DMR to complete the conceptual land use plan for the 67 acre Wesmont Station in Wood-Ridge. The plan called for a true live-work-play community with housing, retail, offices, walking and biking paths and a public square, community center, middle school and train station. The overall vision for Wesmont Station has been realized over the many years since the original plan and today is a vibrant mixed-use complex.

THE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND STORY 2007

At DMR, we consider ourselves early adopters of sustainability. This is largely thanks to the guidance of Pradeep Kapoor, who when he joined the PRADEEP KAPOOR, AIA, LEED AP BD+C DMR team in 2001, brought with him a passion for sustainable design. He received his LEED accreditation in 2003, among some of the earliest architects to do so, and later went on to co-chair the northern New Jersey branch of the United States Green Building Council.

In 2007, St. Joseph's School for the Blind, a new 73,000 SF facility for blind and multiple-disabled students in Jersey City, became DMR's first LEED certified facility. Today DMR’s sustainable design portfolio includes six certified, silver and gold buildings.

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

THE WESMONT STORY

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

THE GYM STORY 2007

Our interior designers were thrilled when we were approached by The GYM to convert a former warehouse into their newest location in Armonk, NY. The assignment called for a high-end design that would require creativity in designing a visually stunning space that drew on The GYM’s values of connecting nature and technology.

The design solution called for elements such as specialty finishes, a curved wood ceiling, a 135 foot feature wall, and fluorescent light boxes throughout the entire workout area, bringing brightness and energy to the environment.

The GYM received the “Best of Year” Merit Award from Interior Design.

2010

THE BERGEN COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY OPERATIONS CENTER STORY

DMR designed the Bergen County Public Safety Operations Center, a 30,000 SF, 24/7/365 building which houses a 911 command center, communication center, emergency operations center, and Office of Emergency Management, among many other elements that help the county provide exceptional emergency management services.

The project became the catalyst for 10 more similar projects over the next 10 years.

THE MIDDLESEX COUNTY COLLEGE STORY

2011 DMR worked closely with Middlesex County College (now Middlesex College) over several years to bring two new facilities to life, changing both the landscape and school operations.

Crabiel Hall opened in 2011, transforming the face of the once-divided campus through a new gateway.

It also soon became the college's first LEED certified facility.

2013

THE ROBERT L. CRAIG SCHOOL STORY

In October 2012, following Superstorm Sandy, the Robert L. Craig School in Moonachie suffered serious damage when it completely flooded, forcing the facility to close.

As architect of record, DMR’s first priority was to assist the board in securing and receiving approval for 36 temporary classroom units, which was achieved within days.

Once the school was occupying the units, DMR began repairs to the damaged facility, bringing the building back to the inviting educational facility it once was. The renovations spanned the entire school and included classrooms, science labs, cafeteria, offices and the media center. In September 2013, the students and staff celebrated the first day of school in their completely restored school, less than one year after the damage was done.

2014

THE AMERICAN DREAM STORY

In 2014, as Triple Five, the developers of American Dream, picked up steam toward the opening of the entertainment and shopping complex, DMR was hired to design their leasing office and showroom. The 14th floor office looked directly over the project site, with design elements throughout that focused on their branding and marketed their other major projects, such as West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada and the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

DMR then partnered with the college on their new enrollment services building, just as they were beginning to explore how to move forward with the change to their business model needed to support this one-stop student services facility. Working closely with the college, DMR designed the building simultaneous to the implementation of this change.

THE POZYCKI HALL STORY

DMR designed the new Pozycki Hall academic building at Monmouth 2015 University, a gift from Steven J. Pozycki.

The facility was so popular, thanks to elements such as a 175-seat lecture hall, attractive study rooms and a second story exterior terrace, that a formal request was made by the student population to keep the building open longer hours.

THE ANNIN STORY

DMR: FROM THE ARCHIVES

2016 was a breakout year for DMR’s residential portfolio and one of the projects that helped propel us was Annin 2016 Lofts in Verona. The project called for the adaptive reuse of the historic site of the former Annin Flag Company manufacturing facility, where many flags of historic significance were made, including those flown atop Mount Suribachi during World War II and on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.

Appropriately named Annin Lofts, the project transformed the historic building and also included an adjacent new construction portion. All together, the development offers 112 loft-style units. The project was completed through a joint venture of Russo Development and Dinallo Construction Corp.

THE SANZARI STORY

Joseph M. Sanzari, the heavy construction contractor, 2018 turned to DMR to build a new corporate headquarters on a site in Hackensack. The project entailed the design of a 10,000 SF, state-of-the-art and sustainable office building consisting of 20 offices, conference rooms and casual staff lounge and break spaces, including a covered, outdoor seating area. Nods to heavy construction were made through special details throughout the building, including use of rebar for the spindles of the staircase and custom chandelier.

The union of modern form and function and historical character needed at Annin Lofts was an artistic process and was brought to life largely thanks to the design influence of Kurt Vierheilig.

Kurt has influenced nearly all of DMR's KURT VIERHEILIG, AIA residential projects, a portfolio of units that today tops 10,000. This same influence helped fuel DMR's breakout year in 2016, marked by an increase in sector revenue by more than 400% from 2015. Kurt's status in the residential design world has earned him several opportunities to reflect on changing design trends, including most recently in NJBiz where he discussed the implications of a larger work-from-home workforce.