Mathematica is an employee-owned think tank that provides economic and other analysis of proposed laws, policies, regulations and proposals. It became clear that while this is a for-profit company, the workplace model that made more sense was an academic campus. An individual may want to work in a quiet office, but also need to share ideas and a coffee, sit at a booth with a colleague and a monitor, sit in a library, sit in a quiet lounge, or meet with outsiders.

The plan is a simple cross axial plan with glass looking through different types of meeting rooms at the end of each axis and a view out of the building.The center of the design is what the design team called a Vertical Commons. The Vertical Commons has a central stair wide enough for people to stop and talk, connecting different types of gathering places. The stair winds around a glass totem that with etched dots that spell out the title “Mathematica Policy Research Inc.” in binary code.