James G. Rogers III one of the founding partners of Butler Rogers Baskett Architects in Manhattan has split with his old firm to establish James G. Rogers Architects in South Norwalk.
“I started Butlers Rogers Baskett in 1979 with two partners, Butler and Baskett,” said Rogers. “In 2002, we opened this office in South Norwalk. We decided we had practiced an area of specialty in independent schools and clubs and I did a lot of that work. It was very difficult to serve a primarily suburban metropolitan area clientele from an office on 10th Avenue in New York City.”
The split was all in good business and Rogers has brought up Christopher McCagg and Ellen Glenn Golden as the two new principals in the new firm.
“They”™re not my new partners; they”™re my old partners,” said Rogers. “Chris and I have been working together for 10 years and when he made the decision to come out here it was implicit on both of our parts that he would eventually become a partner.”
Golden, a student of the Pratt Institute and former principal of Perkins Eastman Architects, came to the firm more recently, bringing with her a knowledge of interior design architecture, especially in country clubs.
“Ellen joining us was an important milestone because we had always been a full-service design firm; master planning, architecture and interior design,” said Rogers. “We had struggled with interior design and were dependent on our New York office. When Ellen joined us, it took an area of weakness and transformed it into an area of strength. I would say that we would really struggle doing what we”™ve just done without Ellen.”
The firm currently employs 17.
“It was a very independent office anyway; we had separate clients and staffing,” said Rogers. “My former New York partners didn”™t have a long-term interest in having a Connecticut office. It seemed like a wonderful opportunity to us.”
Rogers is no longer a principal of Butler Rogers Baskett, though the firm has kept his name.
“I left my name in Manhattan,” Rogers joked.
According to Rogers, the discussions of a separation from New York have been ongoing for the better part of a year.
“Nobody a year ago anticipated what we”™re going through today,” said Rogers of the economy. “We”™re architects, whether we”™re Butler Rogers Baskett Architects or James G. Rogers Architects,” said Rogers. “What we are trying to do is reorient our business focus. We don”™t have a magic bullet, but we do have a reputation for being extremely client- and service-oriented.
“I think the key is to be vigilant and thoughtful about the work that we pursue and attract,” he said. “It”™s going to be tough times for architects because we depend on people”™s extra wealth.”
Rogers”™ areas of specialization cover independent schools, beach, golf and country clubs, YMCA”™s, public libraries; all of what he refers to as volunteer-governed institutions.
“In those areas of practice, independent school capital projects have almost stopped, club work has certainly slowed down,” said Rogers. “The reality is all of the institutions fund their capital projects from the voluntary contributions of their members and supporters. This isn”™t a very good time to be going to someone and saying would you please donate.”
The firm services about 50 club clients throughout Fairfield, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey.
“Clubs historically have not had to be as attentive to their operating costs,” said Rogers.
Rogers said that the way clubs grow and build is episodic.
“They”™ll build a new grill room this year and a new locker room next,” said Rogers. “A lot of these buildings weren”™t clubs to begin with. The result is that the infrastructure; mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure tends to be cobbled together.”
Conservation, too, has entered the club equation, said Rogers: “We have seen what can happen to the cost of energy and what we”™ve started to do is work with clubs to focus on their energy consumption and efficiency of operation and how their buildings contribute to that efficiency and put together information.”
“It”™s becoming part of the culture,” said Golden.
Rogers has teamed as a with environmental consultation team The Stone House Group from Bethlehem, Pa.
“We”™re taking this partnership and trying to apply our combined expertise to work for clubs,” said Rogers. “Of independent school clients, every project we now do is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a national designation) project.”
The firm is responsible for the Stevens Building at New Canaan Country School, which received a silver LEED certification and was referred to by Gov. M. Jodi Rell as the greenest school building in the state.
“LEED certification and being environmentally responsible is at the top of a lot of these clubs”™ agendas, though many of them don”™t know how to implement and be responsible,” said McCagg. “We think this is a great way to introduce something that they can look at.”
