J. & G. DAVERMAN AND DAVERMAN ASSOCIATES

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY PAM VANDERPLOEG COPYRIGHT 2020

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OVER 100 YEARS OF DESIGN AND ENGINEERING. The J. & G. Daverman firm was established in 1903 by Dutch immigrant Johannes Daverman and his son George Daverman. George’s sons Herbert and Joseph Daverman became the next generation of principal architects.  They recruited their engineer cousins Robert and Edward Daverman, also brothers and University of Michigan graduates. With their collective architectural and engineering expertise they leveraged the post-World War II building boom and urban renewal opportunities. 

The Daverman firm expanded and revenues grew from $2.5 million in 1945 to $78 million in 1960.  The firm cultivated Washington connections through Congressman Gerald R. Ford. They won major building and infrastructure projects such as the new Kent County Airport, University of Wisconsin campus plans, malls including Woodland Mall and the San Antonio’s North Star Mall. the Bissell factory, Grand Rapids Osteopathic Hospital and a Korean hospital for abandoned babies.  The Montego Bay, Jamaica Holiday Inn project and Saudia Arabian vocational schools exemplify the firm’s international growth.  Purchased by Systems Planning Corporation in 1971, it became Greiner in 1987 and in 1995, the firm was absorbed into URS Greiner.

Acknowledgments: Many thanks to Robert Daverman, AIA, grandson of engineer Robert Daverman who provided great context for the upcoming guide “Walk Downtown Grand Rapids.” Also a big thank you to Nancy Truer, daughter of architect Herbert Daverman, who was a great source of information about her father and the family firm.