The direct influence of our client has been very significant in the design of this project. Silicon Graphics, a highly optimistic, innovative and prosperous company requested that we provide them, not with an anonymous high-tech "facility", but a building with an architectural presence. They have chosen a site that is amongst the most highly visible remaining in Silicon Valley so that their building will be seen by thousands of travelers every day.

Silicon Graphics (SGI) desires a building which articulates the idea of "openness", in order that their company be accessible, both visually and psychologically, to the community at large. The building accomplishes this on several levels. The passerby in an automobile is given a high-speed glimpse of the inner workings of the building via the large screened element along the West facade, a "bay window" built in clear glass with operable shading within. At the north end of the building, the main entry is a clear glass vitrine to allow the activity within to project outside on a macro scale. Communication and orientation within the building are essential to Silicon Graphics.

The plan can be understood as a simple rectangle, where two courtyards, one peripheral and one central, have been carved out. Overlayed upon this is a circulation spine, essentially central to the plan, and connecting stairs, bathrooms, and other building services. The rotated structural grid at the entry, which is in alignment with the grid of SGI's existing campus further north, opens the building lobby to the street, and further peels away at the rectangle. The central hub serves as a culmination of the entry sequence, a binder for the divergent grids, and a central focus to the plan.

The client's intention was not to have suspended ceilings in the office areas of this building; as a result, the spatial play of the exterior will be fully tangible within, but scaled by exposed structure and human activity.