Chicago-based Mary Cook Associates (MCA), a national, award-winning commercial interior design firm, today released images from the recently-opened REVA, a 219-unit luxury rental apartment community in Rahway, NJ, developed by AST Development Corp. and Sterling Properties.

Through its deep-dive psychographics research and heralded seven fundamentals of successful interior design methodology, MCA is known for creating spaces that facilitate certain types of desirable behaviors and responses from residents. REVA is no exception.

“The interior design of REVA is very site specific because it gives a nod to the area’s tech-savvy future, while also paying respect to its storied past,” said Mary Cook, founder and president of Mary Cook Associates. “In addressing its common spaces, we were never at a shortage for inspiration – from determining the function and livability of the rooms to the scale and proportion of the furniture.”

The city of Rahway has historic significance due to its location and the corresponding role it played in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars as a large manufacturing community that provided clothes and ammunition for soldiers. Today, the city is more well-known for its young bio med work force because of employers such as Merck & Co., an international pharmaceutical company.

With this in mind, MCA designed a “lifestyle revolution” aesthetic for REVA’s amenity spaces, which include a resident lounge and café, fitness center, yoga room, game room and tech lounge. By using strong colors, textured surfaces, metal accents and clean lines, MCA created an industrial meets urban hipster vibe throughout the building’s interiors. And to offer continuity as residents move from one common space to another throughout the building, MCA repeated subtle geometric designs in floor patterns, artwork and lighting.

The community also offers extensive outdoor landscaped spaces designed by MCA that offer multiple gathering spots for residents, such as a pool and sundeck; lounge and BBQ areas; dog run; and fire pit.

“REVA is definitely resonating with its target resident,” said Cook. “The building opened for leasing in mid-December and by the end of February it was already almost 50% leased.”

Located at 1245 Main St., REVA offers residents a thriving neighborhood complete with restaurants, retail, parks and access to public transportation – all of which bring the small-town charm of New Jersey living to life. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area, just 21.6 miles southwest of Manhattan and 5 miles west of Staten Island.

For more information about Mary Cook Associates, visit www.marycook.com. 

About Mary Cook Associates:

Mary Cook Associates (MCA) is a national, award-winning commercial interior design firm acclaimed for work that yields measurable returns for real estate owners and developers. The firm is comprised of more than two dozen designers and architects offering strategic and imaginative designs for a wide variety of spaces that respond to the demographic, geographic and lifestyle influences of target markets. This results in smart spaces that establish immediate connections with their users and accelerate activity, occupancy rates and sales for marketers. After realizing that MCA has been consistently hired to ‘fix’ unsuccessful interior spaces done by other design professionals, founder Mary Cook wrote “The Art of Space,” a textbook that breaks interior design into seven fundamentals. The book is used in design schools throughout the U.S., and its seven principles form a foundation that informs all of the design work MCA produces.

Cook is also credited with introducing the concept of Return on Environment (R.O.E.) to the design and development communities. The term reflects the measurable net benefits communities, organizations and individuals gain from environments that enable them to do, feel and be their best. www.marycook.com.

Click HERE to view additional photos and captions that accompany this story via Flickr.