Page 17 - Fall 2019

Each of the three earliest editions of the AIA Guide to the
Architecture of Washington, DC, dating from 1965 to 1994,
included a section titled “Midtown.” The term is rarely
used today, but it once referred roughly to the area
between K and P streets, NW, and between Connecticut
and Vermont avenues. Before World War II, it was a
transitional zone between the commercial downtown
and the residential neighborhoods around Dupont and
Logan Circles, but as commercial development pushed
northward, the area lost its distinct identity.
Midtown Center, a new building at the corner of 15th
and L streets, NW, may help to resurrect that forgotten
geographical designation, not merely by virtue of the
building’s name, but also thanks to its thoughtful design.
The project incorporates two substantial, publicly
accessible outdoor spaces, along with a series of street-
level pathways that crisscross the site, inviting pedestrians
to cut through (and perhaps stop for refreshment at one
of several food service establishments expected to open
soon in ground-floor retail spaces). In conjunction with the
building’s animated façades, marked by wave-like patterns
of projecting window bays, along with the dramatic
“sky bridges” spanning the main courtyard, these urban
gestures create a strong sense of place in a precinct with
more than its share of bland commercial boxes.
The project, which received this year’s Grand Award
in the AIA|DC Chapter Design Awards program, was
designed by New York-based SHoP Architects in
collaboration with the local firm of WDG Architecture.
From a legal standpoint, Midtown Center is technically
an addition to the pre-existing Columbia Center office
building immediately to its north, designed by Hickok
Cole. The new building replaced a complex of structures
that served as the headquarters of The Washington Post
until the newspaper moved to One Franklin Square in 2015.
Like many large sites in DC, this one came with
significant constraints. “Here’s the challenge with office
buildings in Washington,” said Gregg Pasquarelli, AIA,
a founding principal of SHoP Architects. “Blocks are too
wide for the most efficient modern office layout. And
atria don’t typically provide a great quality of light.”
All photos © Ty Cole
In addressing these obstacles, the design team also saw
an opportunity to take every advantage of the site’s
particular location, zoning constraints, and relationship
to Columbia Center to create an unusually publicly
spirited commercial building.
The architects proposed a U-shaped structure
incorporating a street-facing courtyard accessible to the
public, allowing for more efficient floor plans while
maximizing daylight for perimeter offices. The design
team then decided to go one step further in terms of the
building’s urban presence. “Why don’t we lift the building
up and allow the public to move through the site?”
Pasquarelli recalled suggesting. “Let’s make it almost like
a campus quad.” Coupled with the conversion of the alley
between Midtown Center and Columbia Center into a
woonerf—a pedestrian-oriented thoroughfare that is still
accessible to vehicular traffic—these moves yielded a
remarkably porous building that has already brought a
The rippling street façades of Midtown Center, with projecting bays of copper and glass.
The existing Columbia Center building is visible in the right background.
MIDTOWN FUNK 15