1700 NEW YORK AVENUE
1700 NEW YORK AVENUE Washington, DC
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE Site Located in the heart of Washington DC’s monumental core, 1700 New York Avenue, NW was conceived as a modern, articulated volume. The building is executed in a modest, taut glass skin serving as an appropriate neighbor to the rich architectural quality of the Beaux-Arts Corcoran Gallery of Art and the formal autonomy of the adjacent seventies era office buildings. The mid-block development fills a complex void in DC’s urban landscape. The 19,000 sf site is encompassed by the five-story, historic Corcoran Gallery of Art on two sides. The site also copes with a series of un-buildable alleys and courts between the adjacent buildings. The adjacent building’s disregard for the L’Enfant plan was both a challenge and an opportunity. The irregularly shaped lot with limited opportunity for pedestrian, vehicular and loading access to the site further complicated the project, yet became critical elements in the overall design. Program Although technically an addition to the Corcoran a Gallery of Art, 1700 New York Avenue was designed to function as a completely independent, boutique office building. Unlike previous site proposals, this team never considered demolishing portions of the Corcoran. With a law firm type tenant as the target audience for the speculative, core and shell office building the program includes upscale building amenities such as a fitness center and expansive roof terrace overlooking the National Mall complete with catering kitchen. The 120,000 sf project anticipates LEED-CS Gold Certification and has incorporated numerous sustainable design features. These include high performance glazing systems, green roofs, exterior solar sun shading devices, onsite storm water treatment, low-flow plumbing fixtures, high efficiency frictionless chillers and electric vehicle charging stations to name a few. Solution The project entailed a number of technical solutions which are fundamental to the design and ultimately the success of the project. The most notable technical component are the 25 foot cantilevered floor slabs, above the Corcoran Gallery of Art along the south side of the building. Although challenging from both an engineering and constructability perspective, the additional square footage these provide on the top three floors of the building is what made this project economically viable. In addition, they afford unprecedented, panoramic views of Washington, DC and northern Virginia. In an effort to maximize the office tenant’s access to daylight and minimize sightlines both from the interior and exterior of the building, the typical floors utilize a column-free perimeter and expansive, nearly 10’-0” wide by 11’-0” high, exterior curtain wall modules. The curtain wall elements are articulated at key points in the façade to reduce the overall massing of the building and maintain visual connections to critical architectural elements of the adjacent properties. Building core elements were located along the Corcoran party wall on the lower floors and relocated to the center of the building on the upper floors to minimize the depth of the office floor plates while maintaining efficient bay sizes for future tenants.
VIEW FROM THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT
VIEW FROM INTERSECTION OF 17TH ST AND NEW YORK AVENUE
INTERSECTION OF HISTORIC BUILDING AND NEW ADDITION
DETAIL OF GLASS FIN SUN SHADE AT EAST AND WEST FAÇADES
AREA WAY ALLOWS NATURAL LIGHT TO LOWER LEVEL
VIEW TO NATIONAL MALL
VIEW TO NATIONAL MALL
CANTILEVER
CANTILEVER
HISTORIC BUILDING
NEW ADDITION
NEW ADDITION
HISTORIC BUILDING
WHITE HOUSE
VIEWS TO NATIONAL MALL
U.S. CAPITOL
LINCOLN MEMORIAL
WASHINGTON MONUMENT
TIDAL BASIN/THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL
B3
B2
B1 — TERRACE LEVEL
GROUND FLOOR
2ND–4TH FLOOR
5TH FLOOR
6TH FLOOR
7TH–8TH FLOOR
PENTHOUSE/ROOF TERRACE
EAST ELEVATION
NORTH ELEVATION
VIEW FROM WEST
DETAIL AT ENTRY TO NEW ADDITION
ROOF DETAIL AT INTERSECTION OF HISTORIC BUILDING AND NEW ADDITION
ENTRY LOBBY AT NEW ADDITION
ROOF TERRACE
SOUTH TERRACE
LOWER LEVEL LIGHT WELL AREAWAY
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE Site Located in the heart of Washington DC’s monumental core, 1700 New York Avenue, NW was conceived as a modern, articulated volume. The building is executed in a modest, taut glass skin serving as an appropriate neighbor to the rich architectural quality of the Beaux-Arts Corcoran Gallery of Art and the formal autonomy of the adjacent seventies era office buildings. The mid-block development fills a complex void in DC’s urban landscape. The 19,000 sf site is encompassed by the five-story, historic Corcoran Gallery of Art on two sides. The site also copes with a series of un-buildable alleys and courts between the adjacent buildings. The adjacent building’s disregard for the L’Enfant plan was both a challenge and an opportunity. The irregularly shaped lot with limited opportunity for pedestrian, vehicular and loading access to the site further complicated the project, yet became critical elements in the overall design. Program Although technically an addition to the Corcoran a Gallery of Art, 1700 New York Avenue was designed to function as a completely independent, boutique office building. Unlike previous site proposals, this team never considered demolishing portions of the Corcoran. With a law firm type tenant as the target audience for the speculative, core and shell office building the program includes upscale building amenities such as a fitness center and expansive roof terrace overlooking the National Mall complete with catering kitchen. The 120,000 sf project anticipates LEED-CS Gold Certification and has incorporated numerous sustainable design features. These include high performance glazing systems, green roofs, exterior solar sun shading devices, onsite storm water treatment, low-flow plumbing fixtures, high efficiency frictionless chillers and electric vehicle charging stations to name a few. Solution The project entailed a number of technical solutions which are fundamental to the design and ultimately the success of the project. The most notable technical component are the 25 foot cantilevered floor slabs, above the Corcoran Gallery of Art along the south side of the building. Although challenging from both an engineering and constructability perspective, the additional square footage these provide on the top three floors of the building is what made this project economically viable. In addition, they afford unprecedented, panoramic views of Washington, DC and northern Virginia. In an effort to maximize the office tenant’s access to daylight and minimize sightlines both from the interior and exterior of the building, the typical floors utilize a column-free perimeter and expansive, nearly 10’-0” wide by 11’-0” high, exterior curtain wall modules. The curtain wall elements are articulated at key points in the façade to reduce the overall massing of the building and maintain visual connections to critical architectural elements of the adjacent properties. Building core elements were located along the Corcoran party wall on the lower floors and relocated to the center of the building on the upper floors to minimize the depth of the office floor plates while maintaining efficient bay sizes for future tenants.
VIEW FROM THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT
VIEW FROM INTERSECTION OF 17TH ST AND NEW YORK AVENUE
INTERSECTION OF HISTORIC BUILDING AND NEW ADDITION
DETAIL OF GLASS FIN SUN SHADE AT EAST AND WEST FAÇADES
AREA WAY ALLOWS NATURAL LIGHT TO LOWER LEVEL
VIEW TO NATIONAL MALL
VIEW TO NATIONAL MALL
CANTILEVER
CANTILEVER
HISTORIC BUILDING
NEW ADDITION
NEW ADDITION
HISTORIC BUILDING
WHITE HOUSE
VIEWS TO NATIONAL MALL
U.S. CAPITOL
LINCOLN MEMORIAL
WASHINGTON MONUMENT
TIDAL BASIN/THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL
B3
B2
B1 — TERRACE LEVEL
GROUND FLOOR
2ND–4TH FLOOR
5TH FLOOR
6TH FLOOR
7TH–8TH FLOOR
PENTHOUSE/ROOF TERRACE
EAST ELEVATION
NORTH ELEVATION
VIEW FROM WEST
DETAIL AT ENTRY TO NEW ADDITION
ROOF DETAIL AT INTERSECTION OF HISTORIC BUILDING AND NEW ADDITION
ENTRY LOBBY AT NEW ADDITION
ROOF TERRACE
SOUTH TERRACE
LOWER LEVEL LIGHT WELL AREAWAY
