Proposal for Parcel 42 | Washington, DC
We worked with a team of developers to submit this proposal for a new mixed-use project for a vacant site in Washington DC in response to RFP issued by The DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. Our team was drawn to the Parcel 42 site recognizing its potential to help revitalize the neighborhood and surrounding community. Due in large part to the adjacency to the Shaw Metro Station, we felt that the site should create a gateway, welcoming residents and visitors to the neighborhood. The site is in an area that has been socially and economically overlooked for many decades, but was now at the center of the larger Shaw neighborhood that is currently undergoing dramatic economic transformation. We felt that this site should serve as a bridge to link the areas surrounding it, symbolically helping to bring communities together. From the outset we realized that our design mission must go beyond creating a conventional building, and felt that our objective should be the creation of a social and economic center for the neighborhood.
The designs proposed by our team were conceived through a process rooted from an awareness and familiarity with the site and neighborhood. Living and working in the Shaw neighborhood, the architect and other team members frequented the area regularly to use the Shaw Metro Station and the Watha T. Daniel-Shaw Library. Our design process began by walking the neighborhood to photograph and document the existing fabric and massing of the surrounding area. Our proposed design responds to the context of the neighborhood in general, however the two buildings that were seen as having the greatest impact on the site are the Watha T. Daniel-Shaw Library and the Asbury Dwellings Building (former Shaw Jr. High School), each contributing significant architectural presence. The massing and delineation of our proposed design is in great part a response to these two buildings.
In conceiving both the public and residential spaces for this project our objective was to create a truly inclusionary environment, providing public spaces available to all, and high quality, livable spaces that would be accessible to families and individuals across the income spectrum. We created a diverse mix of unit types including two level lofts, along with more traditional one and two bedroom units and developed a layout that provides a balanced distribution of units throughout the building. The project provides a significant number of market rate, efficiency and studio units which would afford renters the access to transit, high quality design, and other project amenities while reducing monthly rents through a more efficient use of space. This allows the project to increase the number of marketable units on the site without exceeding zoning density limits.
We felt strongly that our design should provide public space as a neighborhood amenity for dialogue and social exchange, complimenting the small plaza in front of the library. Our goal was to maximize the pedestrian retail frontages, and create a more densely occupied and vibrantly used place. To address this the building was first lifted to provide two full stories of retail space, then a large arched opening was created at the corner to allow for an open public stairway leading to the podium level garden courtyard.
The podium courtyard serves as an extension of the public realm, providing pedestrian access to extend from the sidewalk to the courtyard. The stairs and podium courtyard will provide spaces to host community serving events such as farmer’s markets, arts and musical performances. Retail spaces at the podium level can be accessed directly from the podium courtyard or from the ground floor retail level below. We envisioned a lively and healthy environment to be created, including retailers selling fresh organic foods, and natural products, both at the anchor retail space and the smaller retail spaces.
The massing of the upper levels of the building opens in the center allowing the residential units to wrap around three sides overlooking the courtyard below. The courtyard provides every dwelling unit ample access to natural light and ventilation. South and west facing units are provided with private balconies giving residents access to sunlight and fresh air. In order to create smaller living units with a focus on quality over quantity, achieving healthy and bright indoor environments were seen as essential considerations.
The choice and the articulation of materials evolved through a process of examining the masonry details of the local historic buildings and townhomes. The orthogonal joints, ornamental brick coursework, and modularity of the surrounding masonry buildings were examined and have been abstracted into a pattern that forms the skin of the building at the upper levels wrapping along the Rhode Island and R Street facades. The horizontal lines accentuate the “bridging” quality of the building and respond to the scale and traffic along Rhode Island Avenue. At the corner, an abstracted turret is created where the wall pattern language transforms into a sort of “tapestry” that is conceived as a reflection of the diversity and interdependence of the local community itself. On the 7th Street façade the pattern language becomes grounded in alternating stacked volumes that respond to the massing of individual townhomes and creates a dramatic interplay of light and shadow. The perforated metal used for the vertical scrims at the 7th street façade and the projecting horizontal light shelves along the Rhode Island façade will produce a changing light pattern on the building as the sun moves through the seasons. This material also alludes to the perforated metal curtain at the south façade of the Watha T. Daniel-Shaw Library.
Our design creates a healthy, regenerative environment focusing on natural lighting, passive ventilation, and indoor air quality that will minimally impact our outdoor environment while providing a healing indoor environment. The building would be designed to achieve LEED certification and become a model for sustainable design in the region. The rooftop garden would be accessible to all of the building residents and would provide a place for building residents and families to enjoy outdoor relaxation, and take in city views. We also envisioned the rooftop garden as a place where organic vegetables could be grown to provide another source of healthy food to residents and the local community.