GMB Hires Director

Holland, Mich. – GMB Architecture + Engineering Inc. (GMBae), based in Holland, Mich., announced today that it has hired Michael J. Lubbers as director of its Grand Rapids office, located  at 2025 East Beltline SE. Lubbers, a native of Michigan, returns from Chicago where he was a leading visionary and designer at Wight & Company, one of the nation’s top-ranked design firms.

In addition to the investment in its Grand Rapids office, GMBae also announced that it will open an office in the historic Mass Ave district in downtown Indianapolis.

Lubbers’ vision for GMBae’s Grand Rapids lab is to foster a design process that encourages collaboration among the company’s clients and design staff. The Grand Rapids office is expected to grow to about 10 to 15 professionals and staff over the next three to five years. The office’s current client work includes Calvin College, Blackford Capital, CWD and Forest Hills School District.

“Our Grand Rapids Lab provides us with an opportunity for discovery that encourages our design teams and our clients to interact in an open space without any rigid processes,” Lubbers said.

GMB's expanded network of professionals throughout West Michigan and Indiana gives the company a strong platform for working with clients anywhere in the country, said Rob Den Besten, GMBae vice president.

“Our strategic locations in West Michigan, and now in Indiana, allow us to work seamlessly as one firm while continuing to plant the seeds for our national growth,” Den Besten said. “A stronger presence in Indiana also provides us with an opportunity to tap into the state’s world-class engineering and architectural talent.”

The firm brings a distinctive approach to the design process, said Rob Den Besten, vice president for GMBae.

“Before we imagine, we interact,” Den Besten said. “The journey from concept to reality and beyond does not come solely from GMB, but rather from the collective thoughts and talents of GMB and its clients. Our design solutions are the result of the emphasis we place on a collaborative processes that encourage multidisciplinary professional teams to research alternatives, share knowledge and imagine new ways to solve the challenges of the built environment.”