GW Proposes Campus Museum

George Washington University on Thursday presented to the Zoning Commission its plans for a museum at the corner of 21st and G streets on the Foggy Bottom campus. The plan includes renovating the historic Woodhull House (now home to the University Police Department) and constructing an adjacent 4-story building.

Hartman-Cox Architects designed the project that includes a combined 31,470 s.f. of new construction and renovated space. The new building will be a 24,126 s.f., 65-foot-tall building with 4 stories above grade and 2 stories below. A bridge will connect the new building to the Woodhull House.

Future museum site

Rendering of 21st Street view

Lee Becker, partner at Hartman-Cox, presented plans for the building during the Thursday meeting. He said the facade will be constructed primarily of Indiana limestone with some glass and metal, with a tooled cut on the limestone to create shadowing. The fourth floor will feature office space with a glass exterior, with a painted metal-framed penthouse to blend with the limestone. Bluestone pavers will connect the existing brick walkways and concrete streetscapes.

The $22 million project is slated for completion in 2014. The GW Museum will feature the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection as well as provide a new home for The Textile Museum now located in two historic buildings on S Street in Kalorama.

Rendering of G Street view

Much of Thursday's zoning discussion focused on the location and procedures for bus and loading areas. Concerns from the community and commissioners included the need for a better plan to regulate where buses will drop off passengers and prevent them from idling on site.

The tight space and precarious design of a loading zone designated for moving exhibition pieces also raised some concerns. The University previously agreed to have trained personnel direct the deliveries, but some commissioners wanted more assurance that staff would be available on demand. The Zoning Commission did not vote Thursday, instead asking for more information before making a decision. The University will return to the Commission May 14.

A postponed Zoning Commission vote does not necessarily translate into a delay in the project. In an emailed statement, the University said the project timeline included flexibility for such an extension.

The University already received support from the D.C. Office of Planning, Historic Preservation Review Board and Department of Transportation. Video of Thursday's hearing is available from the DC Office of Zoning.

Washington, D.C. real estate development news

Ukrainian Famine Memorial Clears Hurdles

Though no firm groundbreaking date has been set, the site for the Ukrainian Man-made Famine (Holodomor) memorial was consecrated last month by the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, just days after the project received concept approval from the Commission of Fine Arts.

Located on a 3100-s.f. triangular wedge at the intersection of North Capitol Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and F Street, the memorial is dedicated to victims of the 1932 Ukrainian catastrophe, created when Stalin exported the bulk of Ukraine's grain stores, deliberately inducing a famine that he hoped would lead to a repopulation of the country by ethnic Russians. Presently the site is a popular lunchtime gathering place for the throngs of neighborhood workers who patronize the nearby food trucks, perhaps foreshadowing the future irony of young urban professionals shoveling back kimchi tacos and twelve dollar hula burgers in the shadow of a famine memorial.

Since securing authorization from Congress in 2006, the Holodomor project has made slow but steady progress. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) awarded the site in October 2008, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine began soliciting designs the very next year. From 52 submitted proposals, they narrowed it down to five, which were then vetted down to two that met NCPC standards. The project team, led by architects-of-record Hartman-Cox Architects (who were brought in to shepherd the project through the labyrinthine approvals process), presented these two designs at an NCPC meeting on December 1. The “preferred” scheme, dubbed “Field of Wheat,” is comprised of a small paved area and bench in front of a wall-like bas-relief sculpture of wheat. The “alternate” scheme (which seemed to be much preferred at the last NCPC meeting, due to the one-sided design of “Field of Wheat”) is a small sculpture in-the-round of a ten-foot-tall pair of open hands, surrounded by trees. The designs received concept approval from the Commission of Fine Arts in mid-November, and now go to the National Capital Advisory committee.

According to NCPC Acting Director of Urban Design and Plan Review Shane Dettman, the monument is being funded directly by the Ukranian government, which will also take on an unusual level of responsibility for the finished site. “Unlike most monuments that are given over to the National Park Service for maintenance, this particular memorial will be on a Park Service reservation that's owned by the federal government, but the Ukrainian government will take care of upkeep and maintenance,” Dettman said.

Still, the memorial does seem puzzling to some, in the same way that the U.S. erecting a “Trail of Tears” memorial in downtown Kiev might raise eyebrows. The boilerplate justification for the project, taken from the proposal/environmental impact study, is that America's long-standing role as the foremost champion of human rights in the world makes Washington, DC the best location for a memorial to this tragedy. Which is undoubtedly true, as far as that goes. (Which isn’t very far.)

The Ukrainian embassy wasn't forthcoming with any context, but recent history might lend some. George W. Bush signed the legislation authorizing the Holodomor memorial into law in 2006, coincidentally a few years after Ukraine was one of the only countries to make a significant contribution to the multinational Iraq invasion force, inviting the suspicion that the monument was a chip in a much bigger picture of backroom diplomatic horse-trading. Additionally, it's well-known that the U.S. needs a regional ally to keep Russian’s empire-ish ambitions contained (a Taiwan to Russia’s China, if you will), so it makes sense that we would want to keep the Ukrainians happy. They get a sculpture in the capital city of the world's leading superpower, we get a missile installation, that sort of thing. If it saves us from a 21st century “Red Dawn,” it's a small price to pay.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

The Great Race

By Beth Herman Le Mans. Indy. Iditarod. The Preakness. The moon. When we think of legendary races, the quest to renovate the venerated Hay-Adams, 800 16^th St. NW, doesn't readily come to mind. But for an intrepid pit crew that included the hotel’s owner/developer, architect, designer, general contractor, an alliance of engineers and other consultants, adding a 9^th story to the Washington landmark hotel took on a whole new meaning when the finish line was only 90 days from demolition, due to an immovable International Monetary Fund guest booking. With feats that included demolishing an 8^th floor rooftop farm containing all of the hotel’s mechanical systems, emergency generator, elevator machine room and other structures, the decision to jettison the Hay-Adam’s rooftop tented function space— used for more than a decade for weddings and other fetes— in favor of building permanent event space, plus a penthouse for systems and machines, was three years in the entitling process and a scant few months in the brunt of its execution. "We realized that the Comprehensive Plan for the District of Columbia allowed for another story to be built,” said B.F. Saul Co. Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development J. Page Lansdale of the iconic structure, “but I could talk for hours about the design challenges.” Green flag Created in 1928 as an Italian Renaissance-style apartment-hotel by renowned developer Harry Wardman and architect Mirhan Mesrobian, the then 138-room Hay-Adams with singular views of Lafayette Park and the White House became the District’s pied-a-terre-of-choice for international glitterati like Ethel Barrymore and Charles Lindbergh. More recently, literary giant Laura Hillenbrand and her husband exchanged wedding vows in the hotel’s storied sanctums, and in 2008/early 2009, famiglia Obama made the venue its pre-inaugural address. For Lansdale, Principal Lee Becker and project manager Brian Farrell of Hartman-Cox Architects, the HITT Contracting team who’d done a previous Hay-Adams renovation a decade ago, structural engineers Thornton Tomasetti, mechanical/ electrical guides Girard Engineering and designer Thomas Pheasant, among many others, building an addition at warp-speed on an 11,000 s.f. historical footprint galvanized them for what some say was unprecedented, exhaustive time-and-teamwork challenge. Closing the hotel in June, 2010 and retaining management staff for the projected October reopening, among their many objectives was to essentially set a time record, Lansdale indicated. In order to meet the challenge, long lead items such as structured steel and elevator equipment had been ordered prior to June, as the team sought to augment two passenger elevators and one freight elevator by engaging an empty shaft from the 1920s that had never been utilized for a fourth cab. Desiring an express elevator from the lobby to what would be the new Top of the Hay, a high-speed conveyor was installed in the space. In order to “turn the hotel back on” for the October IMF mega-reservation, booked one year earlier, framing the addition—plus new plumbing and mechanical systems, elevator system, life safety systems, fenestration, restroom construction (the former tented space had no facilities, with event-goers descending to the 8^th floor) and more—had to be done immediately, with workers toiling seven days a week in two 10-hour shifts. With the cessation of construction noise and vibration in 90 days, painting, carpeting, tile, mill and stonework, fitting out the kitchen and the balance of the finishes, would go on into December on a more traditional work schedule, over a live hotel. 

Rounding curves; avoiding debris Built more than 80 years ago and listed on the National Historic Register, the team had to be “convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt,” according to Lansdale, that the existing structure and its foundation could support the load of both a 9^th floor penthouse—which would house the elevator machine room, mechanical systems, etc.—and the new event space. Investigating load and accruing wind shear, structural engineers Thornton Tomasetti bored through existing footings, into the soil, to produce a detailed analysis. "I will say it wasn’t an immediate response from them to say ‘no problem,’” Lansdale conceded, adding that the prospect of underpinning the entire building, to make it structurally sound enough to support the event space and penthouse, may have made the project cost-prohibitive. “That was the first hurdle,” he said when the structure was ultimately deemed capable. A dearth of building information from the 1920s precipitated a column survey next by Thornton Tomasetti and HITT Contracting, which revealed between 55 and 60 existing columns, to comply with D.C. construction mandates that the new steel columns had to land directly on the center line of the old ones. “It was a tremendous piece of design and engineering on behalf of the designer and contractor working together,” Lansdale said, noting only two locations were missed. “If you fabricate something that doesn’t fit at all, you’ve really lost time and energy,” he said. Citing another design challenge, Lansdale said among zoning requirements was that the new structure had to have a 1:1 setback from the existing roof parapet. With the desired ceiling height to be quite formidable, the space would become “skinny” and almost unusable. Embarking on a series of studies to maximize the space’s volume and meet the requisite 1:1 setback, the result was an 8-ft. perimeter roof edge line, but with a vaulted skylight system that reaches about 13 feet at its apex. Staying on track Usual (and not so usual) zoning quagmires included a conflict between the District’s Comprehensive Plan, which allowed for a story to be added, and existing zoning, which precluded any additional height. A rezoning application ensued before Lansdale, et al, could submit to the Commission of Fine Arts and Historic Preservation Review Board. Where the separate penthouse construction was concerned, a Board of Zoning Adjustment application was required, with the letter of the law stating that this structure, also, needed to have a 1:1 setback, but from the addition beneath it. “There was no way to build (the penthouse for systems and machines) without a waiver of that requirement,” Lansdale affirmed, noting it was ultimately achieved, though the equivalent of a short prison sentence—beginning in 2007—was spent navigating zoning and review board processes. With 11,000 s.f. of separable space, in addition to a kitchen, that becomes five function rooms, public spaces and restrooms, design features and finishes include Crema Marfil marble, custom stained wood, Charles Edwards brass lantern fixtures and fabric wall panels. The addition’s perimeter faces 16^th and H Streets and has what Lansdale said is a giant French door system with double-hinged doors that fall back on themselves, leading out to a balcony with sparkling vistas. “This was a good project to do because architecturally, it really cleaned up the roof compared to what it was before with a tent and exposed mechanical system,” Lansdale said, noting the first events were accommodated in January. “The penthouse part of the design organizes and takes everything out of sight, and if you’re standing on the street, the only thing you see is a set back 9^th floor event space that is actually very beautiful. It’s a completely different ‘skyscaped’ look for that particular address.” 

Carr Properties to Build Glass Box onto Corcoran Art Gallery

The historic Corcoran Gallery of Art is set for a significant addition in the near future, as Carr Properties and architects at SmithGroup have submitted a design concept to the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) for feedback. A recommendation will be returned by the HPRB at its next meeting on November 18th. Their recently submitted application reveals that developers are attempting to move forward with a nine-story office addition to the previously expanded northwest corner of the art gallery that was originally designed by Charles Adams Platt in the 1920s.

Although some Corcoran staff may occupy offices in the new building, it will act and operate separately, generating lease revenues that will assist the Gallery in its effort to grow the collection and the College of Art's endowment. While operating separately, the structure is technically intended to be an addition, as original plans have always called for an expansion of the Gallery in this direction; the addition will be connected to the original 1890s building through a stairwell and partly cantilevered over the Clark Wing.

In August, the Corcoran Gallery granted Carr Properties a long term ground lease of the site on which developers will apparently build, own, and operate the new offices. Unless an extension is requested by Carr, if all the required public approvals are not secured prior to December 15th of next year, the lease will automatically terminate. The property's street address is 1700 New York Avenue, NW, fronting New York Avenue to the south and E Street to the north. Rising several stories above the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the top floors of the addition will offer panoramic views of the White House, the National Mall, the Capitol, and the various surrounding monuments. In addition to office space and a basement for storage, the expansion will also increase parking availability at the gallery, with three levels of garage set to sit below the new building.

The recently submitted designs by SmithGroup go in a much different direction from previously submitted plans. Hartman-Cox had received approval from the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) and the Historic Preservation Review Board as far back as 1988, but never followed through on their plans for a 120,000 s.f. addition. Again in 2008, Hartman-Cox resubmitted similar renderings on behalf of the Corcoran Gallery, but HPRB called the firm's aesthetic of choice "clearly historicist, [and] perhaps more in vogue in the 1980s than at present," advising the architects to reconfigure the building's design so to more "clearly reflect its own identity and purpose." Smith heeded this advice with hopes that their starkly modern and minimalist stylistics will be better received by HPRB; but developers know that regardless of the outcome, a long road of applications and meetings and approval decisions lies ahead.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Not Your Grandmother’s Church

It’s like walking an ecclesiastical tightrope.

In an effort to renovate centuries-old or even mid-century churches with 21st century acumen, practitioners of the art have learned to strike a delicate balance between old and new, sacred and sustainable. The journey from what was and is, to what needs to be, is often complicated: the act of mixing preservation with practicality a sort of alchemy at which even Harry Potter might marvel.

“With existing buildings of this kind, the important thing to remember is that they have an enormous amount of embodied energy,” said Hartman-Cox Architects Partner Mary Katherine Lanzillotta, whose D.C.-based firm is responsible for such projects as St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church School, McLean, Va.’s Immanuel Presbyterian Church, and a Duke University Divinity School addition. “The resources that the parishioners put into them from the original construction, both financially and emotionally – for us to keep these buildings active and vibrant is one of the most sustainable things we can do,” she said.

Shepherds of more than 100 church renovations and original construction from New York to Florida, Arlington, Va.-based Kerns Group Architects Principal Tom Kerns indicated challenges on the church front vary in style and scope. These include building or expanding sacred spaces without forfeiting intimacy, installing air changes to code to eliminate the “sick building” syndrome of 20 years ago and creating spaces that assist young families or entice teenagers to come to worship in the first place.

In this regard, St. Petersburg, Fla.’s First Presbyterian Church – one of the city’s largest –is no different than many houses of worship whose parishioners include overscheduled teens. With school, sports, jobs and other, perhaps less structured attractions vying for young people’s attention, the church, built in the mid-1960s, was without a contemporary space for its youth population to gather. According to Kerns, “The mission of the youth center was to have a place to hang out on Friday nights,” and also to serve as a venue for a Wednesday night praise service and other spiritual activities. Completed three years ago by raising the roof within the existing structure, the two-story assembly space for 150 people boasts LED colored lighting for its performance stage and dances, and a computer lab for homework. A nursery and day school classrooms occupy the bottom floor. “It’s been very successful,” Kerns said.

At Holy Trinity Parish in Georgetown, Washington’s first place of Catholic worship dating back to 1792, an original chapel on a hill built by Bishop Carroll - first bishop of the hierarchy of the U.S. – had become a convent and then a parish office over its 200-year lifespan. A commission to restore the chapel and renovate the entire campus presented a great challenge for Kerns Architects, but one they embraced. “They (the Jesuit community) asked us to restore the chapel and at the same time to express the juxtaposition of this 18th century building with today’s liturgy,” said Kerns, who completed the project about 10 years ago. According to Kerns, exposing the original container – the entire volume – revealed old wooden trusses the architects left as they were. The tower’s interior timber framing was also deliberately exposed, and concealed lighting placed in window sills. With an eye toward additional sustainability, local artisans were engaged to design custom altars, tabernacles and light fixtures. Campus renovation included staff offices, meeting, and various support spaces. Two courtyards promoted fellowship and facilitated the physically challenged.

“It was a pretty high professional gauntlet to run,” Kerns said, in light of its Georgetown geography. The project took several years and included a year and a half in review, including the Commission of Fine Arts. In the end, much of the 26,000 s.f. project was built below grade to conceal it, which was expensive, but within the framework of a project of this scope.

In 2005 in Durham, N.C., Hartman-Cox’s expansion of Duke Divinity School was an exercise in ecclesiastical efficiency. Duke University was particularly concerned about the site, according to Hartman-Cox Principal Lee Becker, “with the chapel essentially a small cathedral in Collegiate Gothic style and the campus very cohesive.” Designed by Horace Trumbauer in 1934 with Julian Abele as architect/draftsman, the surrounding campus included a 1974 addition “that is a miserable building,” Becker said. A cloister connection piece - the original divinity school - was parallel to the chapel, with an engineering building and library also on site. An approximately 26-foot drop existed between the chapel and the cloister.

“They asked us to fill this in,” Becker said about the drop, “and do something with the cloister.” The building, which is an education building, had to multifunction as classroom and performance space, as well as service and practice space for the choir, requiring acoustical capability. “And it had to have a real ecclesiastical feel,” Becker added. Using Indiana limestone and “Duke stone” for the exterior (Duke has its own local quarry) to match the chapel, a symmetry evolved. “Also, at that time, the university was not seeking LEED certification for buildings,” Becker said, “but it would have qualified.”

According to Hartman-Cox’s Lanzillotta, the LEED certification process is expensive for ecclesiastical buildings and institutions. “When you’re dealing with donor dollars, federal or state dollars, or other forms of fundraising, it may not be the best use of their resources for the documentation,” she said, noting that site selection, mechanical systems, lighting design, drought resistant landscape design, and the envelope – all are sustainable in her firm’s work, with or without certification.

“Architecture is a service profession,” Kerns of Kerns Group Architects said. “They (the churches) hire us to solve a wish list or set of problems." Rather than the quest for LEED certification, “ …what’s at the top is to solve space needs: not enough classrooms or gathering space or accessibility.” Accommodating young families with appropriate facilities or space to grow the music program are their priorities. “But as practicing architects, we’ve been using sustainable ideas for our whole careers,” he said, noting that sometimes more than other clients, churches are more committed to the project and want to be good stewards of the funds they have for their needs or mission.

Duke Divinity School photographs by Bryan Becker.