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The boat club from the northwest. Historic photo of the old Beachcombers Courtesy of Winstanley
restaurant from the same angle. Architects & Planners

Over time, the water between the restaurant and the flow systems that are coupled with a dedicated outside
shore was gradually filled in, and not always in an air system for ventilation. The clubhouse’s kitchens
environmentally sensitive manner: In a 2006 interview, were placed on the building’s north side, allowing for
one of the restaurant’s owners recalled that in the early ample windows on its south, east, and west sides for
1950s, cement trucks getting ready to return to their daylighting interior spaces. The windows use a low-
concrete plant at the end of the day flushed their mixers emissivity, argon-filled, insulated glazing with a low
over the bulkhead. U-factor, in conformance with strict requirements for
Working with the filled-in riverside site required buildings in Alexandria’s Old Town. The building is
careful remediation efforts. Contaminated materials equipped with low-flow plumbing fixtures to achieve a
were excavated and disposed of in accordance with 20% reduction in water use.
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality waste- “The extensive use of red cedar [for the building’s
management regulations, and petroleum-impacted siding] is a big [sustainable-design] feature,” Hong said.
materials were taken to facilities capable of handling “Wood is the only major building material that is renewable.
substances containing nonhazardous (but nevertheless Not only is it durable, it requires much less energy to
undesirable) levels of petroleum hydrocarbons. produce and has low impact on air and water quality.
Groundwater from the site’s excavation and Western red cedar is recyclable, biodegradable, and comes
dewatering was treated with a granular activated from the most sustainably managed forests globally.”
carbon (GAC) system and then transferred to a The building’s relationship with its newly
holding tank that was configured to separate any remediated site was carefully managed. Consistent
free-phase petroleum. Following that, the water was with the Chesapeake Bay Act and Article XIII of
directed through bag filters to remove sediment, and Alexandria’ zoning ordinance, the building’s roof and
again through GAC absorption vessels to remove outdoor areas drain to a planter wrapping around
volatile organic compounds. The separated free-phase the north and east sides. Filtered storm water is then
petroleum was retained in separation tanks and discharged to the existing closed-conduit storm sewer
disposed of by a licensed waste hauler. system, with a check valve installed to control any
Concentrations of methane at the site were above possible back pressure caused by a flood.
the threshold for risk of explosion, so a vapor barrier The clubhouse “has been designed to meet the
was installed under the concrete slab to prevent the gas criteria established by FEMA to make the structure
from accumulating above ground. resilient during weather events,” Winstanley said.
The site, which is in a flood zone, was regraded “That was accomplished by flood-proofing a small
to a 10-year-flood elevation of 6 feet, 2 inches, and area on the ground floor, such as the lobby area, and
the clubhouse’s parking lot was regraded to direct locating all building equipment on the roof. The ODBC
rainwater into the city’s storm water system. that once flooded numerous times a year [at its old
All these actions are essentially invisible to those location] will now be a dry structure when many of the
visiting the site today, but they form an important part other properties in Old Town are flooded.”
of the project’s sustainable design profile. In designing a new building, architects often look
Consistent with Alexandria’s requirements for to the surrounding architectural context for potential
new buildings, the clubhouse itself was designed to design cues. But in this case, that wasn’t very helpful,
meet a LEED Silver-equivalent standard. The building because the old Beachcombers building stood by itself,
incorporates heat-recovery and variable refrigerant out in the water. “With no [historical architectural]

50 THE BOATING PARTY