2025 ARTIFACTS
ar∙ti∙fact
/˙ ärdə fak(t) / noun
1. an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest
Mission Statement
Clients & Partners
Academic Interests & Explorations
San Elijo Joint Powers Authority Headquarters Building
Location : Carlsbad, CA
“RNT excelled at communication and working with our division, as end-users of the building, providng a beautiful three-story building that will have a positive lasting impact on the Humanities Division and the Campus for many years to come.”
Dan Willoughby Fullerton College
San Diego City College Arts and Humanities & Business Technology Quad
Location : San Diego, CA
Introduction and Mission Statement
Founded in 1980, RNT Architects (Roesling, Nakamura Terada Architects) has embraced its location on the Pacific Rim and the diverse cultures of Japan, China, California, and the American West.
RNT’s mission is to design meaningful places that support human habitation, culture, and a positive quality of life. With our multi-office presence across California and our diverse staff backgrounds, our studio culture centers on listening carefully to our users’ and clients’ unique needs and desires. Along with our joy of craft and our search for design excellence, this empathetic human approach is the cornerstone of the firm’s philosophy.
2Origins
Although RNT’s founding partners come from diverse backgrounds—California (Beach Cities), Tokyo, Yokohama, and Hong Kong—they share a design approach that has shaped the firm’s philosophy and values from the beginning. They combine pragmatic needs with intuitive exploration through various design study artifacts. This method balances the needs of human habitation with the expressive craft of design and construction. Since its inception, RNT’s leadership and staff have remained committed to the artful expression of fundamental architectural elements: light, material, and spatial sequences.
The diverse credentials of our team contribute to a distinct design philosophy: an ethic of storytelling through the architect’s craft. This studio culture of diversity has evolved over the years with our staff bringing multi-talented qualifications and representing more than eight languages within the firm. Our newer partners continue this tradition of critical thinking and cultural diversity with a design sensibility that is poetic, understated, and purposeful.
RNT Principal Leadership Team:
From left to right: Brandon Martella, Raul Diaz, Rick Espana, Gemma Hsiueh, Tyson Cline, Mun Ying Kung, Ralph Roesling, Chikako Terada, Chris Bradbury, Rommel Olaes, Joe Mansfield, Kotaro Nakamura
Ethics and Identity
Our red dot logo symbolizes our mark on this world and what we intentionally leave behind. It is a fingerprint representing the “artisan hand” approach. This stamp and sense of pride appears on everything we do - going above and beyond on every project we touch.
RNT believes in promoting healthy and sustainable living conditions for our clients and communities at large. We are signatories to the AIA 2030 Commitment for climate action and are actively engaged creating positive change towards sustainable and resilient community development including smart growth strategies.
Our design ethics are manifested in the longevity of our buildings that thrive in their settings. To develop architecture and environments that are durable and poetic, shortlived trends are conceptually resisted. We aspire towards aesthetic longevity by embracing high-quality design principles and intelligent, budget-conscious construction methods.
Laguna Canyon Nix Nature Center
Concept Study
Core Values
Our craft is the creation of architectural language and honest expression of the values and human story of each client. Together we engage in the “joy of craft” by listening well and making client centered proposals with design artifacts such as sketches, drawings, renderings, physical and digital models, collages and written narratives etc.
In parallel with this process, we engage and study the region, local culture, and site context to establish strong narrative of “place” that becomes our inspiration. Our design ethic is to be client and human centered, bringing forward design principles that are timeless, elegant, authentic, and supportive of well-being. Our Core Values are listed below, giving a window into the ethics that influence our design process:
Core Values
• Sustain the joy of craft and design excellence
• Encourage exploration, creativity and innovation
• Support diverse ideas and critical thinking from all participants
• Strive to understand place, culture, and the traditions of architecture
• Listen well and bring forward the story of the client and community
• Poetically reveal and bring art to everyday life
• Build a positive office culture and apply to external communities
• Support communities through mindful, sustainable and resilient design
• Adapt to global changes
Levant Street Senior Housing
Location : San Diego, CA
RNT Services
• Architectural Design
• Master Planning
• Building Renovation / Rehabilitation
• Site Analysis
• Site Selection
• Development Studies
• Urban Design
• Community Planning
• Feasibility Studies
• Redevelopment Planning
• Strategic Plans
• Interior Design
• Tenant Improvements
• Geographic Information System Mapping
• Sustainable Design, LEED Certification, ZNE Design
• Building and Site Assessment Studies
• Phasing Studies and Capital Improvement Plans
• RFP/Design Build Criteria Documents
• Grant Funding Support
• Design Specifications
City of Santa Monica Beach Comfort Stations
Location : Santa Monica, CA
Clients and Partners
Our relationships with our clients, employees, partners, associated architects, and engineers are long lasting and developed to be beneficial to all parties. Our projects start with a deep understanding of the client’s goals and objectives and continue with an expanded collaborative team working towards design solutions. This collaborative spirit and culture drive our exploration and research that culminate in each project’s design principles. The collaborations and partnerships also establish an internal team with a mission to understand and resolve the client’s needs and desires. When seeking collaborators and new clients, RNT looks for the following shared values:
• Collaborative
• Forward Thinking
• Community Focused
• People Centric
• Process Driven
• Passionate for the Environment
• Empathetic
• Innovative
• Open-minded
• Communicative
• Compassionate
• Value Driven
• Professional
• Consistent
Academic Interests & Explorations
The work of RNT is rooted in open, collaborative, and interactive process that are key to creating sustainable and equitable social infrastructure.
The core values that drive the work evolve from a studio environment in which enthusiastic creativity and discovery thrive alongside expertise and experience. Our work is the result of the talents of our diverse team.
The firm encourages researching and reflecting a broad range of awareness to project conditions, design opportunities. Tectonic research encourages sensitivity to durability and operational costs. Each project is unique, with its own story. We strive to explore and accomplish the following objectives on every project:
Plan/Goals
• Explore Critical Regionalism to discover local cultural, economic and political independence of “place” to create architecture that is appropriate and unique to an area or community.
• Explore various media to develop concepts and project narratives.
• Explore the art and science of construction, both in relation to use and artistic design through systems research, design tectonics, and advancement in building materials.
• Encourage the exploration of architectural theory, critique and the artisan thinking of making and manufacturing by challenging the boundaries of what we know.
• Encourage the exploration and study of project context, environments and cultures.
• As educators, we value participation in education and life-long learning.
• The exploration of new typologies and studying precedent projects that bring forward critical and discursive discussions.
• Mindful of environmental stewardship with each project when considering our approach to responsive design.
• Bring forward thoughtful collaboration of partners and stakeholders to engage in critical dialogue unique to each project. This dialogue becomes the root of ideas, concepts and dreams of the project and ultimately develops into the project design narrative.
RNT is actively involved in our local academic communities. Many of our staff members are faculty, lecturers, and guest instructors at multiple schools and universities. Here you can see the work of design studios at Cal Poly SLO.
Blending Natural & Built Environments
Vandenberg Space Force Base is located on the picturesque Central Coast of California. Our planning exercise was a balanced response to the site’s environmental constraints and its natural inspirations.
Vandenberg Space Force Base South Base District Plan
Location : Lompoc, CA
Making Space for Play
Agoura Hills Community Center was developed as an inspirational hub of activity immersed in nature. The project was crafting with extensive input from all demographics to create a place for play, relaxation, and community gatherings.
Location : Agoura Hills, CA
Agoura Hills Recreation Center
Enriching Communities & Lives
Oak Park Library serves the diverse and underserved community of southeast San Diego. Extensive community input informed this project’s programming , ensuring that will serve as a vibrant hub of culture and learning.
City of San Diego
Oak Park Library
Location : San Diego, CA
Inspiring Learning & Growth
The award-winning Wilson Middle School was an eight-year project whose large and small-scale details were developed through a local outreach program. The project provided pedestrian connections and access to sports and community support programs.
San Diego Unified School District
Wilson Middle School
Location : San Diego, CA
Nakamura Terada Architects,
Pine Avenue Community Center
Location : Carlsbad, CA