RRMM Architects

RRMM Architects is a Chesapeake, Va., architecture, planning and interior design firm that traces its start to 1988, when David Cederquist, Arnold Rodriquez and William Ripley formed Cederquist Rodriquez Ripley. A string of mergers produced today’s RRMM. The firm has more than 140 employees, including 40 registered architects, working from Chesapeake, Richmond, Arlington, Roanoke and Baltimore. Its work leans on universities, schools, public safety buildings and military facilities. At James Madison University in Harrisonburg, RRMM designed the new Health and Behavioral Studies Building, a $115.3 million, six-story project that broke ground on Oct. 26, 2026 with Barton Malow as construction manager at risk. It’s slated to open in fall 2029. Virginia Business has ranked RRMM the largest architecture-based firm in the state.

Four mergers inside one name

The initials are a record of consolidation. Three architects, David Cederquist, Arnold Rodriquez and William Ripley, formed Cederquist Rodriquez Ripley, known as CRR. In 1995 CRR merged with Architectural Associates, a Chesapeake firm started in 1987 by John Maddux, creating CRRM. CRRM then merged with Motley & Associates, a Roanoke practice it had already worked alongside for three years, producing Rodriguez Ripley Maddux Motley, later shortened to RRMM Architects. The firm dates its continuous practice to 1988.

Staff composition is published in a level of detail most practices skip. Of 140-plus employees, the firm counts 40 Registered Architects, 6 Interior Designers, 15 LEED Accredited Professionals and 5 Construction Administrators. For a client sizing a project team, that breakdown answers the question a headcount alone does not.

Five offices cover the mid-Atlantic: headquarters in Chesapeake, with Virginia offices in Richmond, Arlington and Roanoke, and a Maryland office in Baltimore. Licensure extends to the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, so work outside the region does not require an associated local firm.

Services run beyond design drawings: architecture from programming through final walk-through, master planning for public and private sector clients, interior design, sustainable design, feasibility assessments, construction administration, and laser scanning, which is the one that signals serious renovation and existing-building work rather than new build alone.

Education is the deepest specialism. The firm is described as one of the largest educational designers in the Mid-Atlantic, with K-12 run as a studio under two co-directors, alongside a retail studio and multiple Fortune 500 clients.

Recognition cited includes largest architecture-based firm in the Commonwealth by Virginia Business, a 2026 top design firm in the nation ranking by Engineering News-Record, and a 2026 top architectural firm listing by Architectural Record.

The firm’s stated approach is local in a specific sense: its people live, work and shop in the communities they design for, and their children attend schools the practice designed. Mark Probst is principal, president and chief executive; Ben Motley chairs the board. Sources: rrmm.com homepage, Who We Are, What We Do and Contact pages.