Page 55 - Fall 2019
P. 55
Alley façade.
Photo © Julia Heine
Courtyard, looking toward side alley. Photo © Julia Heine
Courtyard with main staircase visible inside. Photo © Julia Heine
Interior of a living unit.
Photo © Julia Heine
Photo © Julia Heine
The firm “quickly realized that maximizing the by-rights
footprint would allow open space somewhere in the program.
Rather than putting this in the rear, we chose to locate it in the
middle, as a courtyard, creating an outdoor room for use by all of
the residents.” The courtyard “also helps to break down the bulk of
the alley side of the building, which could have been overbearing
to the single-family townhouses on the other side of the alley, and
allowed the units to have light on three sides.” The courtyard’s
wooden decking and furniture, along with its greenery, add a
complementary note of warmth to the building’s design, which
also incorporates a green roof.
The building’s black-painted central stair, which overlooks the
courtyard, was commissioned as part of VisionDC’s first Art Tank,
a nonprofit program aimed at encouraging economic development
through the creative community.
