The project was conceived and initiated nearly ten years before RSA was brought on board. As such the foundations and structure for two levels of the building were already in place, and RSA was required to work within this framework. The architectural assignment was to work within such existing parameters while providing for the revised operational requirements which were now contemplated. RSA’s initial challenge was to figure out the underlying system and geometry of the existing structure, which while inherent was not entirely apparent. Once that was accomplished, the new programmatic requirements were planned around and within that system, thereby avoiding any major structural modifications.
The project being part of an existing and extensive industrial layout, was expected to respect the existing architectural language that was employed in the campus. On the other hand, to simply imitate the same was not the design intent. Hence the design approach, while sympathetic to existing architectural vocabulary reflected the space and time of the current context.