When Wright left, Raymond set up his own office, he advertised himself as a specialist in reinforced concrete. He was aware of its textural properties from Cass Gilbert, its structural ones from Wright, and its benefits in relation to earthquake proofing. His first major independent project in 1921 was to design Hoshi Pharmaceutical School, which was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in Tokyo. Raymond used precast concrete to form decorative elements for the building, such as window mullions. In a partially successful experiment, he used wooden formwork to imprint a texture onto the concrete (but he chose to cover it up).