While some people may wish they were still 40 and others may be dreading the day it comes, being in business for 40 years is cause for celebration. We’ve gathered bits and pieces from over the years and interviewed staff and Principals, both current and past about their time at RMC. We’ve reminisced about the work we’ve done, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the people we’ve met along the way. We’ve been grateful for the laughs, the parties, the volunteer efforts, and the community we’ve served in this beautiful place we call home. As we take stock, one thing is for certain—it’s been a great ride so far!
Stroll along with us through this smattering of milestones throughout the years.
New partnership announcement.
In 1986, after sharing office space in a ramshackle building on Holly Street, employees #1 and #2 Bob Ross (the “R” in RMC) and Jeff McClure decided to hang out their own shingle and Ross & McClure was born.
Fun Fact!
When Jeff first proposed the partnership, Bob recalls wondering why they would ever move out of that $50-a-month office space on Holly!
1988 was a milestone year when Bob and Jeff were recognized in the Bellingham Herald for receiving the coveted Mayor’s Arts Award for their renovations of buildings in the downtown core. Those buildings included the Mount Baker Professional Building, Trillium Court, Bellingham Travel, and the Parkade. Bob says, “We hit it right with the timing. The development of Bellingham was poised for a new office of architects. So we did well—well enough to move to a new Art Deco building on Commercial Street.”
Who wouldn’t do business with these two ultra-hip dudes? They just scream DESIGNER, don’t they?
Pete Sutherland, RMC Employee #3
Overwhelmed with too much work for two, Pete Sutherland became employee #3 in 1989. His first project was Faith Lutheran church with Jeff. Pete is still with RMC after 37 years!
Milestone Moment
In 1994, future Principal Brad Cornwell joined RMC as employee #9. Bob Ross remembers interviewing Brad and calling Jeff afterward to say, “I’m afraid if we don’t hire him, he’ll become our competition!”
Brad Cornwell, RMC Employee #9
Jed Clark, RMC Employee #14
We leave our first decade with a quote from former employee, Jed Clark: “I knew RMC was a professional organization after being told that I had to wear a tie. Prior to that, the last serious job I had came with a striped shirt and a paper hat.”
Notable projects in decade one:
Il Fiasco Interiors • Adelstein, Sharpe, & Serka Offices • Muljat Group Offices • Arco Exhibits Building
Milestone Moment
RMC celebrated our tenth anniversary in 1996, hosting a party during the Thursday night Gallery Walk. It was a huge, well-attended success.
A few projects highlighted in our 10th anniversary announcement/party invite
Bob, Jeff, and new Principal, Brad
Bob was right about Brad; he was a talented architect and became Principal in 1998. The firm was renamed and rebranded to Ross McClure Cornwell.
MARKETplace
MARKETplace, a mixed-use commercial/residential building and our new home was completed in 2003. Formerly known as “The Pit,” MARKETplace literally filled a void on one of Downtown Bellingham’s primary arterials helping to revitalize the downtown core.
In 2005, future Principal Neil McCarthy joined RMC. “What drew me most to RMC was their broad reach within the community. That goes beyond Bellingham and into Whatcom County. We embedded ourselves. Our focus wasn’t designing just to chase awards but rather to immerse our work into the context of our town.”
Neil McCarthy, RMC Employee #38
Other notable projects in decade two:
Taylor Dock • Lynden Library • Barkley Buildings I, II, and III • First Congregational Church • 10th & Taylor Condominiums • Squalicum Boathouse • Church of the Assumption and Assumption Catholic School
By 2006, we had grown to 14 people and rebranded to RMC Architects after the retirement of Bob Ross in 2004.
20th anniversary celebratory booklet
Tony Cava, RMC Employee #20
Recently retired employee, Tony Cava remembers how much fun he had working on the Camp Firwood Dining Hall, completed in 2010: “I worked on it with Jeff and he gave me a lot of leeway. It was on a beautiful and challenging site in a slot canyon on their campground on Lake Whatcom. It was great going to the opening dinner and seeing so many people who were happy with the work we had done. Lots of good memories of that one.”
The historic Waples Mercantile building operated as a beloved department store for more than 60 years. RMC transformed the 1914 structure into a boutique hotel and retail destination after a devastating fire in 2008.
Waples Mercantile
Jason Williard, RMC Employee #45
Milestone Moments
Future Principal Jason Williard arrived at RMC in 2006 bringing a wealth of large-firm knowledge on complex projects to the office.
In 2012, Neil McCarthy joined Jeff and Brad as a Principal. Because he was the second M, we didn’t have to rebrand!
Other notable projects in decade three:
Rocket Building • Unity Care NW • Bellingham OB/GYN • SWIFT Center Masterplan • PeaceHealth East Tower Café • Coop Connections • Bellingham Public Library • Port of Everett Waterfront Place Masterplan
A lot happened during our fourth decade—awards, great projects, promotions, retirements, new hires, more great projects, and a pandemic for heaven’s sake!
We can track the transformation of our region through some of the projects we’ve designed:
Samish Commons, completed in 2023, transformed the Aloha Motel site and has won both local and national awards for affordable, senior, and workforce housing excellence.
The Bellingham Public Schools new mass timber administrative building, completed in 2024, invites the community in to gather and offers staff a flexible work environment.
In 2025, we designed phase two of the Pacific Street Operations Center. To provide space for additional departments, the project expanded the phase one structure that houses Public Works Operation’s Natural Resources and the Parks Department’s Operations divisions.
Yes, we still do residential design! The Atwood/Hyman residence at Clark’s Point, completed in 2025, was designed to take advantage of the stunning views of the San Juan Islands.
Julie Flattery with Jeff appearing in Whatcom County Business Pulse Magazine in September 1999
Former employee, Julie Flattery remembers: “I was employee #11 but left after four years to start a marketing/PR/business development company. The great news was, they wanted me to continue doing their marketing and I’m still working with them 32 years later! I feel a bit teary-eyed talking about my history with RMC and am appreciative of their insights, vision, design-sense, community-mindedness, and philanthropic ethos. I look forward to the next several decades of creating with RMC if they don’t mind me drooling on the ad copy.”
Milestone Moment
In 2023 Lexie Costic and Robbie Wright became Associates. They were so good at it, we made them Principals this year.
Former Associates and now Principals, Lexie Costic and Robbie Wright
Chris Jones, RMC Employee #17
Chris Jones says: “Thank you, RMC for taking an undisciplined and inexperienced, old-school hand-and-board draftsman and training, coaching, and supporting me toward participation in a world of cutting-edge competitive regional architecture! I am ever grateful to all of you who taught me over many years the lessons of the profession, and many more lessons on goodness and kindness.”
Other notable projects in decade four:
Fisherman’s Pavilion • Spring Street Landing at Friday Harbor • WWU Multicultural Center • Evergreen Beauty College • Port of Anacortes West Basin Masterplan • Millworks Housing • Eleanor Apartments • St. Thomas More Parish • Skagit County Seasonal Farmworker Housing • Cap Sante Marina RV Park Pavillion • The Way Station
