Design Competition

Building Area 170,000 SF
Location Washington DC
The design parti features the subtle interplay of folding glass planes that create hierarchy in the building enclosure to signify the mid-block entrance to the building and create a corner feature.

The mid-block entrance to the building along 17th Street occurs where two glass planes are angled inward in plan and appear to extend behind the lower stone façade element. At the upper floors the angled glass planes continue above the stone façade to create an open slot inflection.

Folding glass planes extend above the roof level as an architectural feature to ‘soften’ the transition of the facades towards the sky. They help to provide wind protection for a roof terrace and green roof amenity for the health benefit and enjoyment of the building occupants.

Layered stone facades are used to invoke the existing scale of the surrounding buildings. The use of stone enhances the ‘gravitas’ of the building to anchor it to the street. When juxtaposed with the “slick” glass planes, the stone façade creates a foil for the angled glass plane façades behind and further signifies the location of the mid-block entrance. The stone façades feature a “basket weave” pattern of stone clad precast concrete pilasters and spandrels that are stitched together to form large window openings.

The corner feature at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue with 17th Street occurs where two glass planes converge towards the intersection at an acute angle and stop short to form a full height reveal with a recessed window bay. Exposed steel structure at the reveal supports the projected ends of the thin curtain wall planes and accentuates the lightness and layering of the corner enclosure. This dramatic vertical corner element softly anchors the building in a transparent fashion and elegantly defines the building from the Rhode Island approach.