FRCH Design Worldwide (currently FRCH Nelson) is an American

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

and design firm headquartered in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio with regional offices in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Founded in 1968, it provided architectural, interior design, graphic design and brand strategy services to the retail, hospitality, restaurant and corporate office sectors. In January 2018, it formally merged with NELSON Worldwide and has since re-branded its operations under the "FRCH Nelson" brand.

History

FRCH was founded by James T. Fitzgerald

FAIA Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-member ...

in 1968 as ''James T. Fitzgerald/Interior Architecture (F/IA)''. The practice largely focused on the interior design of large corporate spaces as Fitzgerald believed interiors were largely ignored by architects at the time. F/IA changed its name to ''Space Design/Interior Architecture (SDI)'' following the acquisition of a local competitor in 1972. In 1978, the company secured its first international project, a Hilton hotel in

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. In 1990, the firm merged with New York-based architecture firm Hambrecht Terrell International, becoming ''HTI/SDI'' with offices in New York and Cincinnati. The new entity grew to become one of the most prestigious retail design companies worldwide with clients such as

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...

Macy’s Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

and

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

. In 1995, the firm appointed retail executive Joseph Cicio as vice-chairman and

chief creative officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated with ...

, and as part of a major restructuring plan, HTI/SDI changed to its present name of FRCH Design Worldwide representing the key partners of the firm: James T. Fitzgerald, Kevin Roche, Joseph Cicio and Ed Hambrecht. Following its corporate restructuring, FRCH expanded to the international market, offering architectural and design services to international retailers in Brazil and Mexico. In 2011, the firm collaborated with renowned Mexican architect

Michel Rojkind Michel Rojkind (born December 18, 1969 in Mexico City) is the founding partner of Rojkind Arquitectos and according to Forbes Life a representative of a Mexican generation of architects transforming the country. His office was recognized by Arc ...

in the interior design of the new

Liverpool Interlomas Liverpool Interlomas is a branch of the Liverpool department store chain in the Paseo Interlomas shopping mall, in the Interlomas neighborhood of Huixquilucan, Greater Mexico City. The structure was designed by Rojkind Arquitectos. The building a ...

Greater Mexico City Greater Mexico City refers to the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico ( es, Zona metropolitana del Valle de México). It encompasses Mexico City itself and 60 adjacent municipalities of the S ...

. In 2015, FRCH opened a new office in

. In 2016, the firm developed the design concept and brand strategy of Home2 Suites, an extended stay hotel brand of

Hilton Worldwide Hilton Worldwide (legally Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.) is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and resorts. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the corporation is now led b ...

and in 2017, it developed the prototype design, branding and graphic design for Hilton's new brand

Tru by Hilton Tru by Hilton is an American brand of hotels trademarked by Hilton Worldwide. History The hotel brand was announced in January 2016 at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles. It was designed to compete against Comfort Inn and ...

, directly targeting at younger and more budget-conscious travelers. FRCH grew to become a leading architecture firm in the retail and hospitality sectors by expanding its portfolio to include clients such as

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old boys and girls of a variety of ethnicities, faiths, and social classes from different time periods throughou ...

Darden Restaurants Darden Restaurants, Inc. is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando. As of January 2022, the firm owns two fine dining restaurant chains: Eddie V's and The Capital Grille; and six casual dining restaurant chains: O ...

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Subway,

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...

and

Tiffany & Co Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watc ...

. In 2017

Interior Design Magazine ''Interior Design'' is an American interior design magazine, which has been in circulation since 1932. History and profile ''Interior Design'' was founded by Harry V. Anderson in Manhattan in 1932. He was also the publisher and editor of the ...

mentioned FRCH as one of the top hospitality architecture firms for and in 2018, FRCH was named Design Firm of the Year by ''design:retail'' magazine. In 2018, it was announced that FRCH would merge operations with NELSON Worldwide, a large architecture and interior design based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Selected projects

Home2 Suites by Hilton Home2 Suites by Hilton is an American all-suite extended-stay hotel featuring contemporary accommodations and customizable guest room design. It competes with TownePlace Suites by Marriott and InterContinental Hotels Group's Candlewood Suites. ...

: Interior/exterior concept and graphic design. *

: Concept development, graphic design, interior design, and branding *

: Interior design. *

Great American Tower at Queen City Square The Great American Tower at Queen City Square, is a 41-story, skyscraper in Cincinnati, Ohio which opened in January 2011. The tower was built by Western & Southern Financial Group at a cost of $322 million including $65 million of ta ...

: Ground floor lobby interiors. *

Fifth Third Bank Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank), the principal subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp is an American bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fifth Third is one of the largest consumer banks in the Midwestern United States, Fifth Third B ...

: Corporate headquarters renovation in Fountain Square. * Southern facade of the Kenwood Towne Center Shopping Mall in

References

{{reflist Architecture firms based in Ohio Companies based in Cincinnati 1968 establishments in Ohio American companies established in 1968