We selected a challenging site near the beltway in Tysons Corner, Virginia. This area is outside of a traditional downtown or central business district, so it lacks a strong pedestrian realm, but is developing very quickly due to its proximity to the Capital Beltway and lies within the Washington Metropolitan Area.

We expected that technology would advance to a level where people would telecommute leading to a lack of need for office space. This led us to suggest that office building would have to transform itself to a multifamily residential or hotel building or be rendered obsolete. We split the traditional 120 feet office floor plate with 40 feet lease spans, to two floorplates that are 65 feet wide and can be converted to multifamily or hotel use.

The sculptural form of the building was derived from optimizing the surface of the skin exposed to solar energy using parametric modelling. The façade consisted of shading fins that also were solar energy collectors. Urban farms and healing gardens were designed every few floors, allowing the building to attract occupants with these amenities. The street levels have retail and conference areas, the roof of these lower levels is designed as parkland thus creating urgently needed green space and a public realm in Tysons. The proffer mechanism would fund these spaces in exchange for extra height, as was already happening in Tysons in 2012.