History

RBSD traces its origins to 1908, when founder James Gamble Rogers, a Beaux Arts-trained architect, first opened his practice in New York City. During the first half of the 20th century, Rogers became a major figure in American architecture with his designs of much of Yale University’s campus, buildings for Northwestern University, the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, the Yale Club of New York, the Memorial Hospital, and many other notable projects. 

Rogers’ son, Francis Day Rogers, carried on his father’s practice and formed the Rogers & Butler partnership with Jonathan Fairchild Butler in 1947. Rogers & Butler’s legacy includes buildings for numerous hospitals in the New York City area, including New York Hospital, Cornell University Medical College, and The Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. The firm also left its mark on education facilities through the design of buildings for Fordham University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Spelman College, and Union Theological Seminary. Other noteworthy projects ranged from offices for corporations such as First Boston and Morgan Guaranty Trust Company to the historic reconstruction of Mystic, CT, for the Marine Historical Association. 

For the last 50 years, as Rogers & Butler grew to become the present firm of RBSD, the firm has nurtured special expertise in the design of hospitals and related medical facilities. The firm has ranked among the most experienced in the design of complete new medical facilities since major projects such as Staten Island Hospital and the Harold and Percy Uris Pavilion at Lenox Hill Hospital in the 1970s. This tradition has most recently continued with the firm’s design for the Wilzig Hospital, Jersey City Medical Center’s new replacement hospital, which opened in May 2004, as well as the firm’s current design for a new hospital building for behavioral healthcare at Kings County Hospital Center. 

RBSD has been active in international practice since 1973 when the firm began designing the El Maghraby Eye Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Since then, RBSD has become one of the most experienced American firms working in the area, having designed over 35 major projects overseas, representing over $2 billion in construction value during the past 30 years. These projects have ranged from $1-million renovations to major community developments estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The firm has provided professional services for hotels, office buildings, recreational facilities, residential complexes, community facilities such as schools and shopping centers, and some of the largest new hospitals and multi-building healthcare complexes in the world. In 1998, RBSD established Project Management International (PMI) as a subsidiary of RBSD to provide professional project management services for design and construction projects in the Middle East, including the American University in Cairo New Campus Development. 

In addition to the firm’s experience with hospitals and related medical facilities in the U.S. and internationally, RBSD has gained special expertise in the design of long-term care facilities for the elderly. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, new nursing homes designed by RBSD were opened to care for senior citizens across New York City and the surrounding areas. The firm continues to advance the care for the elderly through the current design of a new nursing home for The Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. 

RBSD has acquired significant experience in the design of increasingly complex corporate facilities, such as computer centers, offices, and support facilities. Projects have ranged from executive office and corporate interiors projects for banking and financial institutions, diplomatic agencies, airlines, and various profit and non-profit firms, to the new 19-story Banco Santander building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, as well as a new multi-building administration complex in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, for the Petromin/Mobil Company. 

RBSD has continued to play a significant role in educational projects through the design of complex laboratory facilities for universities and medical colleges, including Columbia University Health Sciences Division, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, the State University of New York (SUNY) Health Science Center at Brooklyn, and New York University. The firm also designed additions and renovations to create unified dental school facilities at SUNY Buffalo and SUNY Stony Brook. 

From its founders in the early 20th century, RBSD received its traditions of quality, integrity, and service to its clients. These traditions are evident in RBSD’s goals for every project: to achieve an innovative solution based on a thorough understanding of the client’s needs and a skillful exploration of inherent design opportunities. Now that the 21st century has begun, RBSD is continuing to design numerous environments for healing, giving the firm current experience in design to accommodate cutting-edge healthcare technologies and practices. RBSD is dedicated to the concept of providing state-of-the-art U.S. healthcare planning techniques, technology, and code compliance concepts to developing countries worldwide. Through the firm’s current work in creating environments for the aging, RBSD understands the importance of designing a warm, aesthetically appealing environment with design features and amenities specifically tailored to accommodate the day-to-day activities of the elderly and their caregivers. RBSD continues to work with several corporate clients to create functional work environments that impart the values and culture of the specific companies through attractive design. RBSD maintains its commitment to creating advanced environments for learning and continues to respond to the challenges of a variety of unique projects for commercial, residential, and hospitality clients.