Page 34 - Winter_2018

ArchDC Winter 2018.qxp_Winter 2018 11/27/18 9:35 AM Page 32

Business Acumen
Business Acumen

Innovative Office
and Retail Projects

by Steven K. Dickens, AIA, LEED AP

Merit Award in Architecture

2112 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

Gensler
Landscape Architects: ParkerRodriguez
Lighting Designers: Stroik Lighting Design
Structural Engineers: Tadjer-Cohen-Edelson
Associates, Inc.; Thornton Tomasetti
MEP Engineers: Vanderweil Engineers; GHT Ltd.
Civil Engineers: Wiles Mensch
Renderer: RSI-Studio
General Contractor: Skanska USA Building Inc.

For most development projects in central DC, the basic
form of the exterior is dictated by non-architectural forces,
typically a combination of ever-shifting market and
functional demands and seemingly immutable zoning
regulations. For elemental economic reasons, commercial
projects tend to squeeze in the maximum number of stories
possible within height limits. Footprints are kept as large
as possible without compromising requirements for
Oblique view of 2112 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. All ph
daylight and views out.
For speculative office buildings, the usual architectural
goal of a strong interior-exterior relationship is inherently
compromised by the simple fact that most of the interior
spaces are designed and constructed separately, often by
different firms and typically in a different time frame. For
such projects, a vital and central role of the architect is to
devise an exterior articulation that makes all these non-
architectural forces work together elegantly. Failure to do
so results in the often-derided, disappointingly bland
“K Street box.”
For a site on the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue
between the White House and Georgetown, Gensler
faced a particularly acute set of challenges. The site is in
the middle of a long block, with fairly wide frontage,

Roof terrace. Lobby.
32 BUSINESS ACUMEN