Page 29 - ArchDC_Summer 2020

JBG SMITH reception and meeting space on the mezzanine level,
with living green wall in the background.
Photo © Tom Harris of Tom Harris Photography
The façade of 4747 Bethesda Avenue is dramatic and sunlight create constantly changing shadows and colors on the
sophisticated. The glass curtain wall system is formed with bronze patina of the steel frames.
large double-height window units measuring 23 feet high The existing lower-scale structure that anchors the plaza
by 10 feet wide. Framing each window unit are two-story, side of the office tower was designed in a neo-industrial style,
bronze-colored panels shaped into concave half-pipe curves. its arches and wrought iron recalling a 19th-century market
The curtain wall fabrication and installation posed significant building or train shed. The glassy curtain walls of the new office
challenges. The colorized steel frame material came from Italy, building stand in bold contrast to the retro-inspired market
and was shipped to the US for embossing and shaping, then to structure. In fact, both buildings are JBG SMITH projects—the
Canada for assembly into window units, and finally to Bethesda previously completed market building was designed by Morris
for installation. The resulting building exterior manages to Adjmi Architects of New York.
convey both glamour and warmth. Variations of weather and

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