Page 50 - Spring_2018

ArchDC Spring 2018.qxp_Fall 2017 2/22/18 9:13 AM Page 48

The school’s entry, which connects the renovated
academic wing to the new support wing, was also improved.
“The original building’s entrance was dark, crowded and
unsecure,” O’Donnell said. “There was no lobby to speak
of—you simply walked into a small corridor at the base
of a stair—and the main office was hard to find. The
community wanted an entrance that was larger, pleasant
to arrive in, and easier to secure. We responded to those
needs by moving the main office to the front of the building,
expanding the lobby and pulling it forward toward the
street, and creating a monumental stairway, a small
amphitheater, and a plaza in front of the building for
children and parents to gather before and after school.
The entry is now very open and transparent, inviting the
school and the community in while also enabling the adults
in the building to formally and informally supervise both
the lobby and the place in front of the school.”
The renovation of Watkins Elementary hits close to
home for O’Donnell—quite literally. “I live around the
corner,” he noted. “Prior to the modernization and addition,
there was no love in the community for the building, and
most wanted it demolished. Now, I overhear people on the
street, in the local supermarket, and at parties, mentioning
how beautiful it is. This is especially nice when they don’t
know that I was involved. The school now honors and
inspires the hopes and dreams of the community.”

Project: Marie Reed Community
Learning Center Renovation,
2201 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC

Architects: Quinn Evans Architects
Landscape Architects: Bradley Site Design
Structural Engineers: SK&A Structural Engineers
MEP Engineers: JVP Engineers
Civil Engineers: Wiles Mensch Corporation
Roofing and Waterproofing Engineers: Seal Engineering
AV/Technology Consultants: Convergent Technologies
Design Group
Food Service Consultants: Nyikos Associates
Contractor: Gilbane Building Company
Renovated interior of the Marie Reed Learning Center, showing skylights added within existing barrel vaults.
Marie H. Reed Learning Center

Plaza and 18th Street façade of Marie Reed.
Located on a sloping site in Washington’s Adams Morgan
neighborhood, the Marie H. Reed Learning Center isn’t
just an elementary school: it also houses several community
partners, including public health clinics, a childcare
center, and a community swimming pool. The elementary
school serves about 440 students from the pre-kindergarten
level to grade 5.
Built in the late 1970s in the Brutalist style, the facility
consists of two wings situated on either side of Champlain
Street, NW, with the western wing facing toward 18th Street,
one of the neighborhood’s main commercial corridors.
Quinn Evans Architects (QEA) was hired to design the
facility’s renovation.
Early concept studies for the project included
options for demolishing at least part of the existing facility
and replacing it with a new structure. Those options,

48 REFRESHER COURSE