What Rice Fergus Miller does

Rice Fergus Miller (RFM) is a privately held architecture, interior design, and planning firm founded in 1987 in Bremerton, Washington, with a second office opened in Spokane in late 2024. The firm employs 50+ professionals and operates as a single integrated practice offering architecture, interior design, planning, and VizLab visualization services (3D modeling, virtual tours) under a distributed leadership model now owned by four principals following the 2021-2022 retirement of founding principals Steve Rice, Dave Fergus, and Mike Miller. RFM is the only architecture firm in Washington State with Certified B Corporation status and operates from a LEED Platinum-certified headquarters in a converted Sears auto service center.

RFM serves seven primary verticals: Fire & Emergency Services, Healthcare Facilities, Tribal Communities, Senior Living, Housing & Urban Development, Hospitality, and Education & Community. Its client base is heavily weighted toward Pacific Northwest public sector and tribal government clients (fire districts, tribal nations, municipalities, counties), regional healthcare systems (Harrison, Virginia Mason), and senior living operators (Panorama, Horizon House). Notable project work includes the Quinault Wellness Center, Jamestown S'Klallam Healing Clinic, Lummi Secure Withdrawal Management Facility, Nisqually Generations Healing Center, multiple fire stations (Boise, Nampa, Meridian, Seattle, Lebanon), and the Cowlitz County 911 Dispatch Facility.

The firm's business model is project-based professional services: fees are negotiated per project based on scope and complexity, with contracts typically running multi-year from master planning through construction administration. Go-to-market is primarily sales-led through public sector procurement (RFPs, Calls for Qualifications), direct relationships with healthcare systems and senior living operators, and tribal government partnerships, supplemented by thought leadership, industry awards, and association engagement (AIA, NEWH, LeadingAge Washington, Healthcare Facilities Symposium). RFM differentiates through specialized domain expertise — culturally-rooted tribal design, fire/emergency facility design with wellness focus, and lean healthcare design — rather than through technology or AI-driven offerings.

Name

Rice Fergus Miller

Legal name

Rice Fergus Miller, Inc.

Website

https://rfmarch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rice Fergus Miller is a Pacific Northwest architecture, interior design, and planning firm of 50+ professionals serving fire/emergency, healthcare, tribal communities, senior living, and civic sectors from offices in Bremerton and Spokane, Washington.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bremerton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Architecture Services: Full-service architectural design for healthcare facilities, fire stations, senior living, tribal projects, housing, and hospitality. Projects are typically fee-based professional services engagements with varying scales from small renovations to large new construction.
2. Interior Design Services: Interior design services including space planning, finishes selection, and FF&E procurement for completed architectural projects, often bundled with architecture services or as standalone engagements.
3. Planning Services: Master planning, capital facilities planning, and programming services to guide long-term development decisions for clients across healthcare, fire services, and tribal communities.
4. VizLab Visualization: 3D visualization and virtual reality services for design communication and client presentations, supporting the core design services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Rice Fergus Miller is a full-service architecture firm delivering architectural design, interior design, master planning, and VizLab 3D visualization/rendering services. The firm designs fire stations, training facilities, healthcare facilities (including medication-assisted treatment centers, clinics, and dialysis centers), senior living communities, tribal facilities, housing, hospitality venues, and community/educational buildings for clients throughout the Pacific Northwest from its Bremerton and Spokane offices.

Product overview

Rice Fergus Miller is an architecture, interior design, and planning firm offering comprehensive design services across multiple market sectors. The firm operates as a single integrated practice rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, providing architecture, interior design, and planning services as core offerings. Their project portfolio spans Fire & Emergency Services (fire stations, training centers), Healthcare Facilities (hospitals, clinics, MAT facilities), Housing & Senior Living (affordable housing, assisted living, memory care), Hospitality (hotels, restaurants, tribal gaming), Community Impact (libraries, childcare, civic), Education (schools, early learning), and Tribal Design Services. They also offer VizLab for visualization services. The firm serves clients throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond from offices in Bremerton, WA and Spokane, WA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture Services Comprehensive architectural design services including master planning, programming, schematic design, design development, and construction administration for healthcare, fire/emergency, tribal, senior living, housing, hospitality, community, and education buildings.
• Interior Design Interior design services including space planning, finish selection, and design for healthcare, hospitality, senior living, and commercial interiors, with specialized expertise in evidence-based design for healing environments.
• Planning Services Strategic planning services including capital facilities plans, site planning, and master planning for campuses and communities across healthcare, fire services, and tribal clients.
• VizLab Visualization and rendering sub-brand offering 3D modeling, virtual tours, and immersive visual presentations to help clients understand designs before construction.
• Fire & Emergency Services Design Specialized design of fire stations, fire training facilities, fleet maintenance buildings, and emergency response support facilities with focus on firefighter health, wellness, and operational efficiency.
• Healthcare Facilities Design Design of hospitals, medical offices, outpatient clinics, medication-assisted treatment facilities, dialysis centers, and other healthcare settings using evidence-based design principles.
• Housing & Senior Living Design Design of affordable and workforce housing, senior living communities, assisted living, memory care, and mixed-use residential developments.
• Hospitality Design Design services for hotels, resorts, restaurants, tribal gaming facilities, and other hospitality venues with cultural integration expertise.
• Community Impact Design Design of community facilities including libraries, childcare centers, tribal facilities, civic buildings, and spaces that strengthen communities.
• Education Facilities Design Design of schools, childcare facilities, early learning centers, charter schools, and educational campuses.
• Tribal Design Services Specialized design services for tribal communities including healing centers, housing, cultural facilities, and hospitality projects with culturally rooted design approaches.

Quantifiable outcome

• Quinault Wellness Center - 18,000 SF adaptive reuse project credited with revitalizing downtown Aberdeen
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Bassetti ArchitectsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on City of Seattle Fire Station 17 renovation and addition project, combining expertise for historic preservation and modern fire station design
• Hummel ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership on multiple fire training facilities including City of Boise Fire Training Center and Boise Fire Station 5, combining RFM's fire station expertise with Hummel's local knowledge
• Pivot North ArchitecturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for Idaho market fire station projects including Meridian Fire Station 6, Meridian Fire Station 8 & Police Precinct 1, and Nampa Fire Department Station 6
• GSI (General Services Inc.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with GSI on McKay Healthcare master plan development for facility transition to sustainable model
• Sound West GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term partnership on urban redevelopment projects in Bremerton including B Flats apartments and lofts, Quincy Square, and Spyglass Hill Apartments
• LeadingAge WashingtonminorOthersStrategic partnership with LeadingAge Washington; RFM's Susie Parsons appointed Strategic Director-at-Large to their Board of Directors

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• NBBJ: Seattle-headquartered global architecture firm with extensive healthcare practice and PNW civic work. Comparable on healthcare facility design and Pacific Northwest clients, though NBBJ operates at substantially larger scale and broader geography.
• HOK: Global architecture practice with major healthcare and science-and-technology practices. Comparable on healthcare facility design and evidence-based design approaches, though at much larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Perkins&Will: Global architecture firm with one of the strongest healthcare design practices. Overlaps with RFM on healthcare facility work and evidence-based design principles, though at much larger scale and broader footprint.

Direct peers

• ZGF Architects: PNW-headquartered architecture firm with deep healthcare, civic, and higher-education practices. Directly comparable on healthcare facility design and Pacific Northwest market overlap, though at significantly larger scale.
• SRG Partnership: Pacific Northwest architecture firm serving healthcare, education, and senior-living clients. Comparable to RFM in vertical-market focus and regional footprint, with overlap in healthcare facilities design.
• Miller Hull Partnership: Pacific Northwest architecture firm of similar size and mission-driven orientation, with comparable civic, education, and community-impact practices. Both firms share a focus on sustainability, B Corp values, and PNW public-sector clients.
• Ankrom Moisan: Portland-based architecture, interior design, and planning firm serving housing, senior living, and healthcare markets. Comparable vertical mix and Pacific Northwest focus, with similar size and project scale.

Regional players

• Hummel Architects: Boise-based architecture firm specializing in fire stations, civic, and education facilities. Has partnered with RFM on multiple Idaho fire-station projects (Boise Fire Training Center, Boise Fire Station 5) and shares the same specialized vertical expertise.
• Pivot North Architecture: Idaho-based architecture firm focused on fire stations and public safety facilities. Has partnered with RFM on Meridian and Nampa fire-station projects, directly competing and collaborating in the fire-station vertical within the inland Northwest.
• Bassetti Architects: Seattle-based architecture firm with education, civic, and historic-preservation expertise. Has partnered with RFM on the City of Seattle Fire Station 17 project and shares Pacific Northwest public-sector client base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rfmarchitecture
• Facebookfacebook.com/ricefergusmiller
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rice-fergus-miller-architecture-and-planning

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rice Fergus Miller