Into the Woods

By Beth Herman

Around the time a charismatic John F. Kennedy captured the Democratic Party's nomination for president, a far less attractive mid-century modern house began its life on a suburban lot in Silver Spring, Md.

Fronting a quiet street and backing up to 200 feet of abundant trees and open space, and ultimately to Maryland National Capital Park, the emblematic 1960 flagstone structure was defined by small, dark rooms and limited access - from all but one of those rooms— to sprawling woodland vistas.

At 5,613 s.f., the house bifurcated into a typical split level on the left, with bedrooms above and a below grade walkout space with a den—subject perhaps to a future renovation. For the busy attorney/single mom homeowner, addressing a tired, period kitchen, breakfast room, powder room and laundry/utility space—and opening the home to embrace the backyard panorama—were paramount in creating the warm, modern, sunlit environment she desired.

“When we started talking, I believe she’d owned it about a year,” said Carri Beer, Brennan + Company Architects associate. “Most of the home was cut off from the view and had never been renovated.” The original kitchen’s pink laminate countertops, old cooktops and 1960s powder room yellow sink were prominent features. “We had to take it all apart and relocate things. It just didn’t function well,” Beer said.

Counterview

Approaching the renovation as a single space where occupants' views were directed to the back, the architects bumped out nearly four feet of kitchen space, expanding into what was a closed-off combination dining and living room (the only original space with the view), and going from 160 to 215 s.f. Though it wasn’t a huge increase, Beer said in addition to updates and aesthetics, the objective was to fit the space with a utilitarian island. A door was also added to the other side of the kitchen, opening to an angled driveway at the front of the house to facilitate unloading of groceries without having to traverse a large entry hall.

With an eye toward sustainability, usable old kitchen and powder room fixtures were donated for recycling by contractor Corcoran Builders. Desiring modern finishes, the kitchen was gilded with stainless steel appliances, with hard-surface base cabinets painted a durable matte acrylic. Upper cabinets were realized in cherry, with cherry featured abundantly throughout the 680 s.f. renovation in cabinetry, custom work, built-ins, shelving and flooring. Seeking a common palette, the cherry wood, along with manifestations of brown and green hues in different materials, gave cohesion to the various aspects of the redesigned space.

Also in the kitchen, a green tile backsplash is made of 100 percent recycled glass, and eco-friendly (recycled paper) PaperStone countertops lend a softness to the space, according to Beer. Kitchen flooring is a cork and recycled rubber composite tile, which is teased into the adjacent powder room.

A tea bag by any other name

Demolishing the wall and its three-foot opening between the kitchen and breakfast room made it one long open space, and new double wood and glass doors were also added to open the breakfast area to the former living room and dining room space—with their bank of sliding glass doors that access the view.

In the adjacent powder room, the green and brown palette is delivered in a custom blend tile from Modwalls, and cherry cabinets, built in open shelving, tiny stainless steel sink and an IceStone (recycled glass and concrete) countertop complete the design.

Defined by pink laminate counters and vinyl flooring, a nondescript mid-century laundry room got a modern facelift with mudroom flexibility—a custom bench, open shelving and sturdy hooks outfitting the space. Modern Abet Laminati countertops made from recycled tea bags (though the material has been more recently discontinued) were installed, and lower cabinets, though not acrylic in a cost-saving measure, were painted the same color as the kitchen bases for continuity. Upper cabinets were painted green to reflect the palette of the kitchen’s glass tile backsplash.

“The home’s entryway was pretty awful,” Beer recalled of the foyer, describing a dated white door and tired 1960s black and white vinyl tiles, which were replaced with cherry flooring. A new quadri-paneled patterned glass façade and door added elegance to the home’s exterior, and facilitates a view straight through to the back. A brand new curved foyer wall mimics an opposing wall that curves the other way. “It plays on curves that were already found in the house,” Beer said, including a new custom cherry ceiling piece that defines the area over the kitchen sink.

Revealing that the homeowner favored nothing about ‘60s décor, Beer said they prevailed upon her to retain a vintage dining room lighting fixture, and also fill a long period stone planter along the foyer floor with lush greenery. Appropriate ‘60s style pendant lighting and other retro fixtures were selected from options at YLighting.com.

“In the end we warmed up the home and made it more modern and functional,” Beer said, adding the homeowner had essentially handed them the reins and entrusted them with the redesign from soup to nuts. “Every project has its own set of challenges, but you don’t always get a client like that.”

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

This house has as much personality as any I’ve seen in DC, and I’ve seen more than a few. If this house was a person, it would be like the love child of Ricky Gervais and Christopher Hitchens. Designed by award-winning architect Mark McInturff, and featured in magazines such as House Beautiful and Regardie's, this breathtaking home is all modern curves, unconventional angles, glass and white surfaces. It’s the sort of house Steve Jobs might design if you locked him in a room and made him watch “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Miami Vice” for a week straight.

From the front, the house looks fine but somewhat conventional but the rear facade of the house looks like some sort of postmodern ziggurat (in a good way). Inside, the main room is a huge atrium-like space with a vaulted ceiling, fronted with a massive window and french doors. All the living spaces are ingeniously and uniquely laid out – the columned corridor leading from the foyer to the main room, the dining area with its view (through a sort of cutout panel) of the backyard, the large kitchen with its unique combination island/table. There are three fireplaces, a study with fantastic built-in bookshelves, and a wet bar. Outside is an excellent in-ground pool (I suppose all pools are sort of excellent), a striking gazebo and a large patio.

If this house has any flaw, it’s that it’s almost TOO nice. My high school girlfriend’s family lived in a house that was featured in design magazines all the time, and it was almost like the house owned them. I once accidentally put a hot saucepan down on their kitchen countertop and tears actually came to her mother’s eyes. As problems go, though, I guess having a really really nice house is a pretty good one to have. It beats Hepatitis C, that’s for sure.

5120 Van Ness St.

$1,850,000

5 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths

Douglas' KFC Residential Approved by Zoning

This week, the Board of Zoning Adjustment waved forward Douglas' 4-story residential-and-retail project, designed by Sacha Rosen of R2L: Architects, to replace a chickenless KFC at 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue in Southeast.

Douglas was given an off-street parking requirement variance, and a special exception from roof structure requirements. The plan replaces Douglas' earlier proposal, in 2009, for a two-story office building on the corner.

Construction will most likely commence next spring. According to Douglas' construction manager, Paul Millstein, the project will begin construction "as soon as we can get permits out."

Half of the ground floor will be taken up by a 2,630-s.f. retail space fronting Pennsylvania Avenue, a bicycle room and lobby (accessible from 15th), whereas the other half will be 7 parking spaces (accessible from back alley). Above, there will be three floors with 7 apartment units each, 21 in all. A penthouse (to house mechanical units, and offer private terrace area to four residents) makes up a partial fifth floor structure. A green roof will cover the penthouse portion and the fourth floor - the main - roof, which will also be fringed with greenery.

On September 6th, ANC 6B's Planning, Zoning and Environmental Committee approved the project, followed by the full ANC, and the Capitol Hill Restoration Society.
: Article previously detailed the project as was approved in July, not September: changes since July include relocated vehicular access, cropped retail space, small design refinements, and a slight decrease in elevation.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

One at a Time for Furioso, Now Offices on 14th

Unlike many DC real estate developers, Giorgio Furioso, founder of Furioso Development, prides himself on being “boutique” and developing one project at a time. As such, the focus right now is solely on his new 14th Street mixed-use project “1525 Fourteen,” a build-to-suit that stands out among a slew of new development on 14th Street, NW, primarily because of what it’s not – a condo. “I’m going in the opposite direction of where everyone else is going,” says Furioso, “An office building has never been built [on 14th] north of Thomas Circle.” “You can’t have a really vital neighborhood without a 24/7 presence,” Furioso continues. “Part of how you [create neighborhood vitality] is through mixed use. That’s most of Europe, [and] why New York works so well.” 

In addition to bringing office use to 14th Street, Furioso says 1525 Fourteen stands out for what the 42,000-s.f. building aims to accomplish through an “extremely green attitude; if you’re not into green it’s not going to be your building.” Designed to achieve LEED Gold, the project includes a green roof, geothermal heating, solar panels, a charging station for hybrid cars, and a bicycle room with showers; 28 small-car parking spaces, accessible by a car elevator not a ramp, are included in two underground floors. With the design by Eric Colbert completed, approvals secured and financing in place, Furioso is now looking to fill the 6-story building, ideally with an environmentally minded non-profit for the top four floors, and a local retailer for the bottom two, preferably one not in the food industry. Considering the wealth of restaurants on, or coming to, 14th Street, Furioso explains, “I’ve been called by about ten restaurants, but I’m trying not to go there.” 

To understand the goals, logic, and business philosophy of Furioso, it’s useful to take a look back. “I come completely from an arts background,” says Furioso. “Art is all problem solving. You create a problem and then you try and figure out how to solve it. In a way, what’s kept development exciting for me is that I treat it like art. It’s not art… but the way I approach it is very much in an art solving shape and form.” After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the Boston Museum school, Furioso chose Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) over Yale for his MFA – not only because a full ride was offered, but because he was given the opportunity to teach (painting) while attending. There was only one problem: “RIT had built a brand new campus, and, I swear, it looked like a hospital,” says Furioso. “It was really, really disturbing.” Instead of inhabiting a sterile, boxy, mint-condition dorm room, Furioso chose to sprawl out in an abandoned and dilapidated building downtown that was owned by RIT. “I took over an entire floor. It was unlocked and I put in my own lock,” Furioso recalls. “By the time I graduated the whole grad school had moved into that old building.” 

Furioso says that his choice to live someplace with gritty urban character served as a creative impetus – “A space for an artist is like a tool; it’s no different than a pencil, a brush, a camera. Space is where so much of the creative spirit [is nurtured] … for poetry some people go to a landscape, a seascape, the woods. For visual artists that interior space is as much a tool [as the poet’s destination].” Another consequence of that move – to wander away from the white-walled dorms – was a fascination with development. “It started me on this quest of changing, fixing, and making spaces your own,” he says. After graduation, Furioso took on teaching full-time and came to the D.C. area as a visiting professor at the University of Maryland, but “couldn’t find an art studio to save my life,” he explains. Although art studio space seemed sparse, in the early ‘80s, school buildings were in spades, and the District was selling them at auction. These sidelined schools, making for unique and expansive residential and/or personal work spaces, offered Furioso and others an opportunity, in Eckington. “I bought a school with some other friends who were artists… four of us bought the whole school.” At once, Furioso settled into a studio space and waded into the world of D.C. development. Another foreclosure, this time a building at the 400 block of M Street, NW, led to a more significant investment for Furioso, but also a financial challenge, “It had already been foreclosed twice before,” recalls Furioso. “The bank was really in bad shape.” 

To get around a dearth of financing, Furioso set his creative mind to legal matters and created a corporation in which the buildings space would be represented by stock. Gathering $10,000 from each of eight artists interested in obtaining a space within the building, Furioso put the up-front funds into fixes and repairs: “I fixed the roof that was collapsing before I even owned it. The bank thought I was totally nuts.” But, it worked: Furioso bought the building for $76,000, and the artists each paid $25,000 for raw space – $200,000 in all. The property was rehabbed, completely redone over a 10-year period, and the value has since skyrocketed. “The spaces were really big; truly [New York-style] lofts, before lofts sort of hit the mainstream,” says Furioso. Though impossible to sell as “stock represented property,” the building eventually turned into a condominium and became what it is today – The Mohawk. 

Shortly after, in 1987, Furioso committed fully to development, incorporating his company with the goal “to develop artist spaces,” amidst some skepticism about throwing money into a business model that catered to the iconic starving artist types. Despite doubts, the company grew quickly, but was immediately parsed back because, as Furioso explains, “My intention was always to be a boutique developer doing really interesting things, one at a time. And no one really gets it…. I never wanted to get really big, or have a huge staff. I have a business philosophy that is so anti-American,” he laughs. An Italian national, Furioso was uprooted by his parents, first to Montreal then to the states, landing in New York at the age of twelve. His Italian heritage colors not only his approach to venture capitalism, but historic preservation (historic has a different meaning – “In Italy the 'new church' is 600 years old!”) and underscores his belief that 1525 Fourteen will succeed by offering 24/7 neighborhood vitality, something he considers somewhat European. Of his current project at 1525, Furioso’s excitement comes through, “We’re looking for a special, really great tenant,” says Furioso. “Once we do that, we’ll put a shovel into the ground and get started.” He’ll also stay connected to the building once it’s finished – “I’ll be doing a business in the cellar, my own personal business.” Furioso continues pointing out aspects of the design: “The lobby is like a little jewel box. We’re not building this cathedral… because the energy from it is kind of wasted, but it’ll be really beautiful,” and adds that he can provide “a beautiful grand stairway so that the two floors [for one retailer] feel connected,” while scrolling through photo examples of the Crate & Barrel on Massachusetts Avenue. 

Furioso maintains involvement with the design and the development every step of the way, crediting his innate fascination with all of it, “The question before I start a development is: does this interest me? Will I lose any money? If I don’t lose any money I don’t care if I make ten cents as long as it’s interesting.” But he hasn’t; with several successful developments, among them: The Mohawk, his initial artist loft foray; Church Place, a modern 32-unit condo; The Roosevelt, a historic preservation project; and Solo Piazza, which was, when built in 1999, "the first large, new residential building on 13th Street [NW] and just about the whole District,” says Furioso. Furioso’s success in development can perhaps be attributed to his attitude, problem-solving approach and hands-on nature, but whittled down even further to a simple penchant for risk-taking, the first of which dates back 30 years, when he deserted a position as the head of Ohio University’s art department. “I gave up my tenure and came here. My mother until the day she died was saying ‘I can’t believe you gave up tenure.’ I gave up security. Security’s never been a big thing for me.” 

Washington D.C. commercial real estate news

Lighting the Way into Crystal City

According to its president and CEO Angela Fox, the Crystal City BID focuses on the "ins and outs of Crystal City" - literally. The BID currently has two projects in the pipeline to revamp primary "gateways" into, and out of, Crystal City. One of those projects is the effort to beautify and "light" the southern vehicle entrance at the intersection of Route 1 and Crystal Drive, which will begin its 6-to-8-week-long period of construction, by Rand, next Monday, October 3rd. The ground breaking ceremony will be supplemented by some detailed renderings of what will be responsible for lighting the project, which Fox described as, "Sixteen LED poles, lit two-thirds of the way up... the poles will follow diagonal [pea gravel] paths through the property" as well as "continue up the façade of the building on site." Although paths are walker accessible, the area is not meant to be a public park. Along with LED poles and pea gravel paths, the 30,000-s.f. parcel will be clad in new turf, and planted with 28 trees. The project was planned and approved almost two years ago, however the land was being used by the county in the interim. When finished, there will be "a lovely gateway experience" said Fox, creating "the aesthetic awareness that you are entering Crystal City." Of the design, Fox said, "It was a very creative process; Gensler held a sort of seminar with their young architects, a design competition over the course of several hours." A few of the resulting designs were then refined into one formal design. Fox added that the goal of the BID has been to "re-brand Crystal City [using] light and illumination" with artistic efforts that exemplify the properties of crystal. The other gateway project currently underway by the BID is the improvement of the Crystal City Metro entrance, a partnership with Vornado that is in the final stage of the permitting process. These two efforts, together with the redevelopment of Long Bridge park at the northern entrance to the city, will offer "three new sparkling entrances," Fox said. "By the end of the year." 

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

Braddock Gateway Residential Plan Gets Initial Approval

Alexandria-based Jaguar Development has received preliminary site plan approval for the first phase in its 5-phase Braddock Gateway development, paving the way for a 270-unit, 277,000-s.f. apartment building.

Jaguar managing partner, Eddy Cettina, says that the next step, final site plan approval, will take place within the next 9 months to a year.

Although the entire Braddock Gateway development plan was approved in 2008, its developer laid low through the recession, and approached the City with amendments to Phase I in July. Preliminary approval of these amendments was granted by City Council on September 17th.

Phase I's acre-sized parcel is at the southernmost end of the development property, located 1000 feet from the Braddock Metro station.

Jaguar chose to lead with rental apartments on the site because "[i]t is the closet [building] to the metro, and will cater to renters who want easy transit access."

As a transit oriented development, the first phase will also include the construction (by Jaguar) of a "high capacity" bus/transit stop along First Street, just east of Payne Street, with a covered waiting area and LED touchscreen offering rider info.

Designed by Rust | Orling Architecture, the residential-and-retail building will vary in height from 50' to 150' - from 6 to 15 stories - with the tallest section being the central tower (the focus), which is flanked by "two lower shoulders," the eastern 6-story wing with pool deck, and the western 13-story wing.

During design revisions, the western wing was taken down by two stories in order to further stagger height overall, emphasize the "shoulder" appearance of the building, and better relate the design to that of the entire development, according to the city. The staff report, recommending preliminary approval of Phase I, stated the importance of the design review, "Given the site's strategic location... and the pronounced vertical nature... the 2008 development review process placed considerable importance on the quality of the architecture, as the site truly serves as a gateway into the historic portion of the City."

The first completed building in the development will be surrounded by 14'-wide sidewalks, featuring decorative brick and dotted with trees; pedestrian oriented street frontage will be built along Fayette Street. Open space included in the development will total 14,000 s.f., consisting of a 6,000-s.f. central green on the ground floor and a 8,000-s.f. roof top area. Two levels of underground parking will offer 243 parking spaces, with another 26 spaces located on a surface lot off of Fayette.

As for the rest of the 5-building development, "[w]e are concentrating on phase one right now," said Cettina, although she did confirm that the plan for the entire 7-acre development site has not been changed; the plan is for 770,000 s.f. of new development that includes 630 residential units, 70,000 s.f. of office and 15,000 s.f. of retail.

Patricia Escher, principal planner with the City Dept. of Planning and Zoning, offered that the development a considerable improvement to the site, currently holding two vacant warehouses and a surface parking lot. "The entire five phased development of Braddock Gateway will improve an underutilized portion of the City." The project, to be LEED certified, will also conform to Alexandria's green standards.

Escher added that "the first phase will be providing a combined total of $1.6 million to the City’s affordable housing fund, the neighborhood’s streetscape fund and [include] improvements to a local park."

Alexandria, Virginia real estate development news

Beauty and the Bach

By Beth Herman

An estimated 50,000 of them pepper New Zealand's pristine cliffs and shores, historically cobbled from fibrolite (asbestos sheets), corrugated iron, old timber or even recycled trams, and devoid of electricity and running water. Since the mid-20^th Century, and though most have received modern updates with some even evolving into multimillion dollar escapes, the Kiwi bach (pron. "batch") - a kind of eclectic vacation bungalow - has been the go-to domicile for thousands of New Zealanders seeking solace from the daily grind, usually with family, extended family and good friends in tow.

For the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon’s Team New Zealand, reimagining the bach in a sustainable light occurred to a core of four Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture students a couple of years ago, according to team spokesperson Nick Officer. The concept of competition was nary a glint in their eyes, however.

“It was just a project for us, but the university really liked it and pushed us to submit a proposal,” Officer said of their subsequent entry into the Decathlon, where students are charged with creating and manipulating an affordable (under $250,000) net zero energy house. “From there it just snowballed,” he affirmed, noting New Zealand is the first entry from the Southern Hemisphere in the event’s history.

With construction commencing in February and ending in May, and following an 18-day open house that hosted 20,000 visitors in Wellington, “First Light”—aptly named for the country that receives the planet’s first rays of daylight— began its painstaking 30-day crossing to the United States. Transiting the Panama Canal, and on to Philadelphia, the house arrived in D.C. by truck – in six containers. Reassembled at the National Mall in just under seven days by 26 dedicated though sleep-deprived students (the trip from New Zealand took 30 hours with a Los Angeles stopover), Team New Zealand competes against 19 other teams in 10 categories, including architecture, market appeal and engineering, in pursuit of solar gold (first place).

Outside In

Favoring an indoor/outdoor motif, Officer said New Zealanders are very passionate about their landscape and environment, in this case teasing them all the way through the 800 s.f. house. Sustainable decking runs both outdoors and indoors, with large, triple-glazed windows and a mammoth skylight exposing occupants to open sky. Bi-folding doors on both sides of the house open its interior to air and light, and a striking, shade-producing timber canopy above the house’s waterproof membrane provides independent support for a six kilowatt solar array containing 28 polycrystalline photovoltaic panels and 40 evacuated tube solar collectors. An interactive energy system monitors and displays the house’s output vis-à-vis weather conditions.

With “First Light” created as a year round residence, as opposed to a traditional Kiwi bach used in summer, concrete slab flooring beneath the space’s largest windows passively absorbs and stores the heat of day, retaining it for comfort in cooler months. A reverse-cycle heat pump affords energy-sensitive heating and cooling,

“We’ve got a foot of sheep’s wool in between the walls,” Officer said in reference to the space’s native resource-type insulation, giving it an R-value of 6, “almost like wrapping the house in a wooly blanket.”

Employing “sustainable, renewable, elemental materials,” Officer cited the use of timber that includes native New Zealand Rimu garnered from an old sheep shearing shed, Western Red Cedar for the exterior—a detachable cladding system was developed by the team, and sustainably-sourced Pinus radiata—a species of pine—used for structural elements and interior linings.

Innovations such as a clothes drying cupboard, where solar-heated water is propelled through rails and a fan accelerates drying, and multifunctional rooms with custom, adaptable furniture—including bunk beds and a sofa bed—plus a master bedroom, help ensure family and guests are not left behind or are without conveniences. “It’s about a lot of people able to be in one space, enjoying each other’s company,” Officer said of the historical Kiwi bach concept. Following the Decathlon, "First Light" will travel back to New Zealand where it is slated to become a private home.

Graduating this December with a master’s degree in architecture, Officer indicated it’s been a busy year and he’s not had time to give much thought to where he’ll practice his craft. “I’ll go anywhere in the world to work on sustainable projects,” he said.

photos courtesy of Kelly Matlock and Team New Zealand

Meridian Hill Baptist Church Condominium Gets Design Adjustment

A church-turned-condominium project by developer Bozzuto and architect Martinez + Johnson will likely head back to the Historic Preservation Review Board next month, says Bozzuto VP and director of development Clark Wagner, but without additional façade windows sought by the team.

Developers had sought to add glass to the stone facade, but city officials scotched the idea of changing the historic façade, originally built in 1927. Instead, the plan is to simply replace the windows, as well as other changes requested by HPRB, including a different "skin" for the new construction portion of the project.

HPRB did approve "the demolition of the rear of the building and the general design approach to the additions in concept, [including] the terrace alterations to the church roof, if they can be concealed from public view."

After HPRB approves the entire revised design, Bozzuto will then file its application with the Board of Zoning Adjustment, said Wagner. In July, ANC secretary Jack McKay said that the ANC, which has not yet opined on the matter, is most interested in the rear setback and rear access of the property.

The community has a heightened sensitivity to fire safety measures after the Deauville apartment fire in 2008; the fire responsible for the demise of the Meridian Hill Baptist Church and the rise of the current plan to turn the property in condominiums. Spacing to adjacent properties has already proved to be an issue in the redevelopment of a neighboring property, the Mt. Pleasant Library at 3160 16th Street, NW.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

City life can be cool, but it can also become really tedious. The traffic, the car alarms at 5am, packing onto the metro like cattle, crackheads lighting up directly under your bedroom window (can you get a contact crack high?). I once got so sick of it all that I took a couple months off and retreated to my parents' country house, but that was just as bad, in totally different way. The nearest bar was a 25 minute drive away, the well water tasted like DDT, and the television seemed to only receive broadcasts from thirty years ago. I was so bored that I think time actually stopped, and not in a good way.

Is there no happy medium? Well yeah, but it's going to cost you. First time on the market for this place, and it's easy to see why. It's a country house in the middle of the city, a palatial Forties-style house on a double lot in the Palisades, completely surrounded by a dense ring of greenery. Total privacy. Howard Hughes himself would approve of this place

There's also an in-ground pool (for skinny dipping) and a huge outdoor patio area. Inside, the house is roomy, with lots of windows (loved the sunroom), and quaint woodwork and tiling. It's in the Palisades, so you can zip over to Georgetown in just a few minutes. And then, after you get elbowed off the sidewalk by Jersey Shore-types in popped collars talking on their iPhones and a stampede of office girls going for free cupcakes, you can zip right back to your country house and pretend none of it ever happened. Those of us without urban country houses will have to continue to resort to heavy drinking.

4863 Potomac Ave. NW

$1,799,000

5 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths

Tweaking Science: NAS Goes Under the Knife

By Beth Herman

Its marble headquarters at 2101 Constitution Avenue NW was built in 1924 by celebrated architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, who died four days prior to its dedication. Though it continues to serve as an epicenter of the elite in times of war and peace, the National Academy of Sciences building’s programmatic mission had changed dramatically in recent years, according to Quinn Evans Architects Principal Larry Barr.

Undergoing three more building campaigns and sequential additions of a west wing in 1962, an east wing in 1965 and a 700-seat auditorium in 1970, the 182,000 s.f. space had been compromised in recent years by an insufficient infrastructure that resulted in burgeoning maintenance fees. Tantamount to that, the organization’s modus operandi had changed to include substantial public engagement at hearings and presentations, its conference rooms and public spaces markedly unequal to the task.

“As recently as 10, 15, 20 years ago, an awful lot of NAS’ work was behind closed doors,” Barr said. “It was time to bring the facility into the 21^st Century,” a project begun in 2007 and slated for completion in April, 2012.

Citing elements and more that were part of a 2006 master plan, including relocating and/or expanding conference rooms, reinterpreting public access, evolved wayfinding and circulation, and improved ADA-compliancy (some of the Academy's nearly 2,200 esteemed members and 400 foreign associates, if visiting, had to enter indirectly on C Street through the back), Barr said encroaching on the building’s historic fabric was certainly at issue. “It was turning the first floor into a public floor that was the driver,” he added, noting additional space needed to be captured without expanding beyond perimeter walls.

To that end, utilizing east and west courtyards that accrued to related wings, the architects infilled each space with a roof and skylights so they became suitable, informal public gathering spaces for hearing breaks or cocktail parties. Three new conference rooms have been established on the main floor, two accommodating up to 150 people each, with a smaller space seating 50. The renovation also reintroduces two historic gallery spaces to showcase art.

According to Quinn Evans Project Manager Tom Jester, a considerable number of half-levels needed to be addressed to make the building handicap-accessible. Accordingly, elevators and ramps are being installed, with front-of-the-building access achieved by the removal of an existing window, and wall beneath the window, down to the ground. A bronze door will be added to match other historic bronze doors throughout the structure, facilitating access to an entry vestibule and elevator that goes to the main floor lobby.

Preserve and protect

With the 1924 portion of the building most historically significant, including the Great Hall which contains the behemoth rotunda, integrating elements like fire protection, updated electrical systems and data systems into historic spaces where there isn’t a great deal of cavity space, or access behind walls, was a significant design challenge. Identifying “creativity” as a key component in a successful restoration/renovation of this nature, Jester said specific variances had to be obtained to preserve the work of original architect Goodhue and his team, which included bronze sculptor Lee Lawrie—who created the building’s bronze spandrel panels, window mullions and mammoth pocket doors—and muralist Hildreth Meiere. Goodhue favored these artists and had collaborated with them on other projects.

Akoustolith, a widely used porous ceramic material employed in the early 20^th Century to moderate noise, was used in the building's Great Hall and contains decorative painting and gilding. With the team in the process of conserving and restoring those surfaces, Jester said they will be brought much closer to their original appearance. Untouched since original construction, the material had fallen victim to cigarette smoke and other environmental abrasives—emblematic of its age.

Under the sun

In regard to NAS’ exterior, Barr said the building was generally in good condition, with repointing underway and a major concern expressed by the team that over time mortar had been replaced with an inappropriate sealant. Subsequently sealant has been removed from joints which are again filled with mortar compatible with the original masonry.

Restoring the building’s original steel windows while preserving the 1924 building’s historic character was also important— the decision made to retain them but apply a low-emission glaze. Windows were replaced with insulated glass units in the 1962, ’65 and ’70 additions. Skylights over the east and west courtyards contain integrated photovoltaics—part of the glass’ assembly—which is different from a typical roof solar array. The architects believe the process, while widespread in Europe, is still cutting edge in the U.S.

Historic lighting fixtures are being retrofitted to incorporate LED’s, where possible, on the path to LEED Silver certification—a requirement for the $45 million NAS project as it is financed with city bonds. The restoration/renovation is the District’s first project to be reviewed under the lens of the D.C. Green Building Act.

Citing the efficiency and cooperative spirit of an extensive team with an aggressive schedule, which includes The Gilbane Building Company and The Christman Company, Barr has summarized the NAS project as “a very challenging intellectual exercise” in its complexity, allowing for 21^st Century activity without compromising historic integrity. “In the end it’s going to be a great building for the client,” he said.