New studio and office spaces for SA Architects in Cranston, Rhode Island. A previously vacant furniture warehouse was selected for adaptive reuse. The original concrete block building shell highlights moments of modification on the north and west facades, through the use of sculpted and linear extrusions.

The extrusions mark new programmatic elements; the primary point of entry and a rhythmic strip of operable windows for ventilation and natural light throughout the interior spaces. All exterior modifications are skinned with Rheinzinc rain shielding Rheinzinc was selected for its environmental durability and material contrast against the surrounding concrete block assembly.

A thin strip of site work along the western facade is deployed to carve geometric volumes and voids. These geometries define spaces for growing,  circulation and, at the point of entrance, an extruded wedge of cast concrete, for seating.

Interior modifications were designed to pull and fold away from the original aged wood stud roof framing to expose and contrast old building layers with new interior assemblies to function historically and didactically. Particular interior assemblies within entry, reception and conference zones, are expressed as singular massings that float within the field of the building’s total interior volume.

The resulting experience creates unmoored geometries that physically engage visitors upon entry. These fractured moments redirect and attenuate circulation along an angular approach that wraps and compresses around the client conference space before reorienting and expanding the visitor’s view into the large, open studio space and private offices beyond.