Page 44 - ArchDC Fall 2018

ArchDC Fall 2018.qxp_Fall 2018 8/27/18 8:34 AM Page 42

Courtyard of the residential portion of the complex. P
across the street, conjuring up memories of bygone urban
baseball stadiums whose playing fields were in clear
view of surrounding buildings. The line of sight from
the elevated viewing stand is partially obscured by one
of the ballpark’s garages, but a large flat-screen TV
incorporated into the seating area helps ensure that
none of the action is missed.
Mechanical-system penthouses, Caudle explained,
are typically 18 and a half feet tall. Since only 10 feet of
height was needed for the rooftop’s bathroom structure,
the firm was able to use the top of that structure as the
base for the viewing stand. The unique amenity, he
added, “makes for very special evenings. The other side
of the rooftop has a large, year-round pool and cabanas,
with unobstructed views of the Anacostia River.”
The hotel’s façade, in contrast to the residential
building, includes a vertical series of two-story recessed
spaces that are horizontally offset from one another in a
slightly random pattern and feature some bricked-in
stretches where the mind expects to see additional windows.
The horizontal offset pattern and the “missing windows”
make the hotel’s relatively narrow and otherwise simple
façade more compelling.
The hotel’s entry, like that of the apartment building,
was kept relatively narrow so as to preserve leasable
commercial space along the street. Upon entering, hotel
guests take an elevator to the second floor, where the
Main staircase hotel’s check-in desk and lounge space are located—an
in the F1RST Residences. Photo © Garrett Rowland arrangement often seen in hotels in Manhattan and
other places where street-front property is at a premium.
42 WHO’S ON F1RST?