Creating, Renewing, Preserving, Sustaining...

This has been the vision of RSA since its beginning as a one-person New York based practice in 1966. Since then, RSA has grown to a staff of more than 125 among its three offices in New York, Washington, DC, and Boston. To provide the highest quality structural engineering services possible, the principals have fostered an approach centered on constant collaboration among owners, architects, and other consultants. Our engineers are trained to be effective listeners, creative problem solvers, and knowledgeable about all facets of the construction process. After participating in more than 16,000 projects, RSA has earned recognition as one of the leading firms in the country for its innovative spirit in the design of new architectural works and the sensitive modification of existing structures.

History of RSA

In the late '60s, our staff began to increase, and in 1970 Robert Silman formed the partnership Zoldos/Silman, Consulting Engineers. This lasted until 1974, when the present entity, Robert Silman Associates, PC was founded. Our other principals, Joseph Tortorella, Nat Oppenheimer, Edmund P. Meade, and Kirk Mettam, joined the firm in 1979, 1988, 1989, and 1998 respectively. When RSA moved to its present Greenwich Village location on University Place in 1984, there were 25 people in the organization. Growth has been steady, one-by-one, with no dramatic surges and no retractions.

In the beginning, the firm consulted on many residential rehabilitations of tenement buildings in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. This extensive work on older structures provided a natural lead into RSA's work on historic structures, beginning with Carnegie Hall in the early 1970s. Landmark legislation and guidelines were in their infancy then and members of the staff learned the necessary principles through on-the-job experience. Today, work on historic structures accounts for approximately 20% of the practice's efforts.

RSA expanded its geographical horizons by opening a Washington, DC office in 1998 under the leadership of principal Kirk Mettam, and a Boston office in 2007, led by Associate Mike Auren. This enables the firm to better service projects in the National Capital Region, the Mid Atlantic states, and New England.

More than half of the work in all three offices consists of new construction projects. We do more than Fallingwater! We do institutional work - primary, secondary schools, university buildings, and religious facilities of all kinds. We do governmental and corporate buildings, such as firehouses, police stations, courthouses and libraries. We do museums, galleries, theaters, performing arts centers, concert halls. We do hospitals and laboratories. We also have extensive experience with multi-family housing and single-family private residences.

As RSA has grown, so has its expertise. The firm pioneered the use of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques for existing and historic buildings, and has been at the forefront of sustainable design strategies. We pride ourselves on being a leader in the industry with regard to emerging technologies and concepts.