Page 47 - ArchDC_Summer 2020

View from interior toward the new plaza.

Project: Ballston Quarter, Nearly 70 years ago, the largest suburban retail center
4238 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA on the East Coast at the time was erected in Arlington,
Virginia. The five-story, 300,000-square-foot complex
Architects: CallisonRTKL (residential tower and retail); was anchored by Hecht’s department store and built
Cooper Carry (architects of record for mall and parking garage around the largest parking garage in the United States.
renovations); Gensler (Macy’s offices); studioTECHNE|architects It was fittingly named Parkington Shopping Center.
(pedestrian bridge) During the 1950s, the popularity of suburban American
Interior Architects: HapstakDemetriou+ (Quarter Market);
STUDIOS Architecture (residential tower) shopping malls was on an explosive rise, but within a
Landscape Architects: Mahan Rykiel Associates; Landscape few decades, Parkington’s fortunes began to decline. In
Architecture Bureau 1986, a $100 million renovation and expansion project
Lighting Designers: Bliss Fasman Inc. (residential tower); was completed, with a J.C. Penney joining the Hecht’s
KGM Architectural Lighting; The Lighting Practice department store as one of the anchors of the newly
Structural Engineers: Tadjer-Cohen-Edelson Associates, Inc.
MEP Engineers: Hoffman Borowski & Associates refurbished and renamed Ballston Common Mall.
Civil Engineers: VIKA Subsequent expansions added office space and the
Traffic Consultants: Wells + Associates highest ice rink above street-level in the United States,
Code Consultants for Residential Tower: KPT Engineering but like its predecessor, Ballston Common eventually
Parking Consultants for Residential Tower: Walker Parking fell into decline as it struggled to adapt to changing
Consultants
Vertical Transportation Consultants for Residential Tower: retail trends. Once the largest mall in the region, it
Persohn Hahn Associates was now one of the smallest. If the center was going
Lead Programming: Paladino and Company to thrive in the 21st century, it would require not just
Contractor: Clark Construction Group another renovation, but a thorough re-conception.
CallisonRTKL, the same firm that had designed
the 1986 renovation, oversaw this latest transformation,
which yielded a mixed-use complex now known as

UNCOMMON GROUND 45