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Amidst all of the highs and lows that 2020 has brought, it’s been a busy year, and a year of growth for our core team. In January, we added a part-time Business Development role and brought on Lauren Richardson to fill that seat and add expertise in brand strategy and marketing to our firm. And, just a few weeks ago, we welcomed Jim Fraser, who is an accomplished licensed Architect with nearly 25 years experience on the job and a diverse project background spanning commercial, industrial, and medical facility design.

As we enter into the cooler Fall / Winter season, we’re excited about current projects and those set to kick-off over the coming weeks. We’ve been watching the Illinois licensing saga with much anticipation alongside the rest of our industry, and have been staying busy with projects ranging from Architectural Interiors for a Flagship Dispensary in Milliken, Colorado to a Smoking Lounge concept in Adams County, to initial conversations with a group out of Bogota, Colombia to support on a large cultivation and processing facility in a rural part of the country.

We’re learning every day, growing steadily, and leaning in to the virtual workflows that the pandemic has forced. Are there ways we can support you, your team, or your goals this year? We’d love to hear from you // catch up over a socially-distanced coffee! Reply to this email and say hello. And in the meantime, stay well.

Cheers,
Satto and Nicole

Say hello to Satto@MerJArchitecture.com
Say hello to Nicole@MerJArchitecture.com

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VOICE OF…

A Q&A With new hire Jim Fraser, AIA

Where are you from?
Chicago, but lived in Lakewood when I was a kid and have been back in Colorado since 2002.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not at work?
Be in the outdoors: rock climbing, kayaking, biking, you name it.What’s been a favorite project you’ve worked on thus far in your career?
I designed a shelter for abused women. It was very rewarding.

What’s a dream project you would be over the moon to work on?
Designing a college campus.

What is the biggest misconception about architects?
That we don’t really understand building construction.

Why are you interested in working in the cannabis industry?
It’s a new project type for me and will give me an opportunity to learn and grow in my profession.

What’s your favorite local business in Colorado?
I don’t really have a favorite. I support small business whenever I can and have the utmost respect and admiration for anyone who starts their own small business.

Describe your perfect vacation destination / experience? Somewhere out of the way with no phones, TV, or internet, where I can just relax with a good book and get some “me time.” 

Who is / are your industry idol(s) in architecture? Why?
My idol would have to be Antoni Gaudi. He had a style all his own. I appreciate how he took ideas from nature and geometrical forms and integrated them into his projects.

2020 has been a hard year in many ways. What has been your peak amidst the pits?
Getting hired on at MerJ Architecture!

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VOICE OF…

A Q&A with MerJ Business Development Director, Lauren Richardson

Where are you from?
Charlotte, NC. I moved around quite a bit after undergrad, calling Austin and San Francisco home before moving in Denver in 2017.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not at work?
I love a good DIY project, and am very into design. It’s not uncommon for me to spend a day rearranging rooms in my own home.What’s been a favorite project you’ve worked on thus far in your career?
When I worked in events, I designed and produced a summer marketing tour for a natural foods brand that layered in a partnership with Wanderlust Yoga Festival. It was dynamic and creative and was hugely successful for the company. 

What’s a dream project you would be over the moon to work on?
We are currently working on a cannabis lounge concept here in Adams County; as regulations continue to evolve, I’m excited to see how “cannabis bars” will come to market and will be jazzed to work on more projects in this innovative category.

What is the biggest misconception about architects?
I’m not an architect myself, but one thing that surprised me when I started at MerJ was seeing the sheer depth of knowledge and expertise that architects must have across every aspect of construction and design. 

Why are you interested in working in the cannabis industry?
It’s the wild-wild-west! I love being a part of an industry with people that are so passionate about the ‘power of the plant’ and am constantly impressed with the caliber of creativity and business acumen people in the cannabis space bring; everyone is so collaborative and forward-thinking and optimistic.

What’s your favorite local business in Colorado?
For cocktails, I am a huge fan of Room for Milly. For coffee, I love Queen City Collective in Baker and Mint & Serif off Colfax. For noms, I love Linger (the history of their building is great!).

Describe your perfect vacation destination / experience?
A mix of total relaxation and adventure. Love a good off-the-grid weekend at Strawberry Park Hot Springs in Steamboat. 

Who is / are your industry idol(s) in architecture? Why?
I am a big fan of mid-century work, so Charles and Ray Eames are talented architects whose work I very much admire. I’m also very fond of the eclectic design work of Kelly Wearstler. 

2020 has been a hard year in many ways. What has been your peak amidst the pits?
Getting engaged and going under contract on my first commercial property. Two big peaks!

GOOD READS

What we’ve been reading (or listening to!) lately…

• Art of Construction / Show 187 | Cultivate Advisors Series: The Hustler & The Experimenter (A podcast featuring Nicole Delmage) 
• Pot Shop License to Support Social Equity| Matt Estep, the former managing partner of Green Thumb Industries, runs an investment firm linked to two applicants hoping to win the right to open marijuana dispensaries in Illinois.
• Illinois Slims Dispensary Applicants | Last January over 700 groups filed 4,000 applications for 75 cannabis dispensary licenses; only twenty-one entered the tiebreaker phase.

See the full newsletter here.

Over the past month we’ve been grateful here at MerJ Architecture for an abundance of work that’s kept us quite busy. One such piece is a flagship dispensary in rural Colorado that has us getting creative with architectural design possibilities that bring the outdoors, indoors – a process we’ve been thoroughly enjoying. The building shell for the soon-to-be-debuted dispensary was designed by Bruys Henderson and the Studio K²  team, who created a brilliant rustic-yet-modern canvas for us to work from. 

We’ve been pulling a ton of inspiration from renowned architects like Fay Jones (the Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice turned world class architect in his own right) who designed the stunning Thorncrown Chapel pictured above. The co-existence of nature and architecture is a high-level design philosophy that rings true with us personally, and fits perfectly into the cannabis world. We also love that with our cannabis-specific work we get to meticulously curate indoor environments that enable the natural cultivation of plants. 

Thank you for following along as we share these every-so-often updates, and if I haven’t talked to you in a while book a virtual coffee date with me so we can catch up! One positive thing about the turbulence that the pandemic has brought is that it has freed up more time for what it should be all about: connecting with and supporting each other through the highs and lows.

Enjoy the day,
Nicole (…and Satto says hello too!)

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RETAILING MARIJUANA

Words by Anthea Gerrie

As marijuana gains a license for recreational use in a growing number of US states, architects and designers are being courted by retailers in this new high-value category looking to distinguish their brand with a compelling look. The stakes are high – US sales are expected to triple to $30Billion in the five years from 2018, the year cannabis came out of the closet in the largest market, California, to 2023, by which time dispensaries are expected to have a high-street presence across most of the country.

Click to read more…

WORK IN PROGRESS

Here’s what we’ve been working on lately…

Nature’s Herbs and Wellness is setting up their Flagship Dispensary in Milliken, Colorado and have enlisted our services to support with architectural interior design. We love sharing our creative process, which starts with lots of “pie in the sky” brainstorming (even the sky is not the limit!) and hand “sketchies” that bring our imagination to life on paper. 

We are loving seeing dispensary design continue to elevate as an industry, with as much focus being put on the customer experience and brand application as the ever important growing methodology. 

Below, left to right and top to bottom, you see…

1. A “Falling Timber” sketchie detailing how we’re planning to pull the ceiling architecture down to eye level;
2. A thoughtfully designed Point of Sale experience that takes into account social distancing requirements amidst COVID; 
3. Custom product display shelves that will be made to precisely contain specific product inventory and merchandise throughout the space; 
4. A larger than life “iron tree” installation that will highlight and emphasize the incredible height of the building.

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GOOD READS

What we’ve been reading (or listening to!) lately…

• Art of Construction / Show 187 | Cultivate Advisors Series: The Hustler & The Experimenter (A podcast featuring Nicole Delmage) 
• The Denver Post on Record Marijuana Sales| Colorado’s recreational and medical cannabis dispensaries combined for $198.9 million in June sales.  
• Retailing Marijuana | Architects and designers are being courted by retailers looking to distinguish their brands.
• Professionally Cannabis | A podcast for Investors, Entrepreneurs, and Connoisseurs of the burgeoning cannabis industry

See the full newsletter here.

At the beginning of this month, Lab Manager Magazine released an article with contributions from MerJ Architecture called ‘Designing a Cannabis Lab.’

Lab Manager is a quality, science and business oriented online media outlet that has done a fantastic job keeping up on the latest trends in laboratory design. As an architect who thoroughly enjoys the process of designing cannabis labs, I was happy to contribute to the conversation about best practices, testing process flow and the particular challenges that we encounter in such facilities. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to design not only certified testing labs but also extraction, manufacturing, R&D and QC labs such as those in the MedPharm facility (pictured below).

Lab design requires particular attention to HVAC systems integration. Scientists routinely work with flammable liquids, corrosives and pathogens which need to be carefully filtered or ventilated to ensure safety. MerJ Architecture regularly partners with mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers such as IMEG Corp., with whom we have developed a close working relationship to share knowledge and coordinate between disciplines. 

In the end, it’s satisfying to know that we can contribute to making the cannabis space safer for those who work in these facilities as well for those who consume!

Cheers,
Satto (…and Nicole says hello, too!)

THAT’S A WRAP

A bit about a project we’ve completed…

• Project Name: MedPharm Iowa
• Type: Dispensary
• Location: Des Moines, IA
• Overview: MedPharm enlisted MerJ to support in the design and development of an 18,000sqft facility in Iowa. Our services covered everything from Programming, Space Planning, and Process Throughput Analysis to Staff and Process Workflow, cGMP Zoning, and Project Phasing Strategy. We were technical consultant to FEH Design (the Architect of Record) and IMEG (the MEP Engineering team) through DD and CDS. MerJ was also able to advise on the Security Plan for the Site & Building as well as the final Signage Plan.

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“There are two primary types of cannabis laboratories: in-house and third party. While in-house laboratories may be used for product testing, third-party labs are certified through an accredited lab certification program that is sanctioned by the state government and can perform tests that are mandated by state marijuana and/or hemp regulations. State mandated testing must be done in a third-party lab; it cannot be performed in-house,” says Satto Rugg, MArch, NCARB, owner and principal, MerJ Architecture LLC. “In-house laboratories are usually built as part of a cultivation and/or processing facility, and are used by the grower or extractor for research and development or for quality control purposes. These labs may contain the same equipment as state testing labs. Other spaces which have similar requirements to laboratories are extraction, post-processing, and manufacturing rooms within cultivation and processing facilities. These areas often follow similar GMP to labs regarding cleanliness and safety, but have equipment for the production and packaging of final cannabis products instead of testing equipment.”

Satto Rugg, Lab Manager Magazine, June 2020

GOOD READS

What we’ve been reading (or listening to!) lately…

• The Importance of Integrated Workspaces and Work Styles | A ‘Knowledge Paper’ article by Symbiote with great perspective on technology’s impact on working styles, multidisciplinary labs, and space planning. 
• 7 Black Architects Who Have Shaped Modern Architecture  | A (not at all exhaustive…) look at the brilliant work of Black architects whose work continues to serve as a testament to talent outweighing constraints.
• Designing a Cannabis Lab | Developing a facility for cannabis testing and research is not an easy undertaking.

See the full newsletter here.

Amazing what a global pandemic can do… We have been wanting to start an email newsletter to communicate our passion for efficient, sustainably designed cannabis facilities to our clients and the world, and here we are, with a good excuse to launch it! We hope that we can soon move forward together to a ’new normal’, and get on with the business of growing with our clients.

Before MerJ was even an idea, we were designing cannabis facilities as far back as 2010, when Colorado jurisdictions were struggling to write regulations as growers and dispensaries were literally building out their facilities. By 2015 the regulations were still in flux as we designed MedPharm Colorado, a vertically-integrated marijuana production facility in Denver.

With this experience we saw two things: that marijuana growing and manufacturing had quickly developed into a highly technical, precise art, and that regulating agencies were spewing out an incredible array of complex rules to meet. It was at this point that MerJ Architecture was born, with the aim to provide clients with the technical understanding and guidance necessary to navigate regulations and create the world’s most efficient and productive facilities.

We started MerJ with a learning mindset and decades of experience in Architecture across many verticals. Our vision and everyday pursuit is to use our combined architectural knowledge and shared passion for cannabis to drive innovation in the built world of this booming industry. ‘The grass is always greener,‘ so they say, so we choose to keep our eyes on the horizon and remain forward-thinking even amidst these unprecedented times. We’re grateful for our experience with routinely conducting business online now more than ever, (our main office is in Denver, Satto has an office in New Mexico, and our clients are spread across the United States and beyond) which has allowed us to transition easily during this “stay at home” period.

MerJ, as many cannabis-oriented companies are, is experiencing steady growth and momentum and we’re excited to share knowledge and support our network in every way possible! We hope this monthly-ish newsletter keeps you informed and inspired, and that you’re all staying safe (and sane) from wherever you call home. 

Cheers,
Nicole & Satto

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THAT’S A WRAP

A bit about a project we’ve completed…

• Project Name: Medicine Man 
• Type: Dispensary
• Location: Thornton, Colorado
• Overview: Medicine Man enlisted MerJ in October of 2016 to lead the design and development of a 4600sqft dispensary in Colorado. This was their third location, so while a cannabis build wasn’t necessarily new territory for their team, they came to MerJ with a flagship vision we were thrilled to help amplify and bring to life.
• Design Detail: The cool glow from the behind the product display wall was an effect created by a sheet of diffused LEDs called LumiSheet, made by Denver’s Evo-Lite. MerJ custom designed and fabricated the recessed floor with the inset Medicine Man logo and structural glass surface. The zig-zag slatted ceiling panel was designed by MerJ and fabricated by Div 6 Millwork in Colorado, and we’re grateful for building expertise from the team at Faurot Construction.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Here’s what we’ve been working on lately…

• Working with a cannabis startup that’s currently fundraising, designing Concept Site Plan drawings to include in their investor pitch;
• Supporting the re-development of an old paper factory in Massachusetts;
• Navigating licensing for a client moving locations in Colorado Springs;
• Expanding an extraction and MIPs facility in Las Vegas, Nevada;
• Scaling a vertically integrated producer in California.
• Working on two greenhouse grow/processing facilities, one in Colorado and one in western Massachusetts.

Good Reads

Here’s what we’ve been reading (or listening to!) lately…

• The Pandemic Pivot | The marijuana industry had barely recovered from the vape crisis of 2019 when the coronavirus pandemic delivered a fateful blow to the world economy in the first quarter of 2020.
• The Colorado Mask Project | A locally formed, collaborative organization working to provide all Coloradans with DIY masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
• MMT is now Schwazze | Denver’s Medicine Man Technologies rebrands and acquires Mesa Organics.
• Maine Drops Residency Requirement | You no longer have to be a Maine resident to open a recreational marijuana business in Maine.
• EntreArchitect Podcast | Power of the  Abundance Mindset in a Time of Uncertainty.

See the full newsletter here.

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