Page 56 - Fall 2019

Entry façade of the Triumph. Photo © Kevin Reeves Photography

Washingtonian Residential Design Award/ Ward 8’s contribution to that strategy. Like other new projects for
Citation for Urban Catalyst addressing homelessness that have been featured in these pages,
The Triumph’s smart-looking design could easily be mistaken for
The Triumph—Community-Based that of a market-rate apartment building.
Short-Term Family Housing The Triumph “provides residents with extensive views of the
city, natural light, play, and gathering space in a parklike setting,”
Washington, DC
according to the architects. “Tucked away from the street and into
the surrounding hillside, the building relates to the residential
DLR Group/Sorg context with an articulated volumetric facade to create residential
units of human scale.” The building “symbolizes an integrated,
Landscape Architects: Carvalho and Good, PLLC
dignified approach to living in a holistic, healthy environment,
Structural Engineers: Silman
with on-site stormwater quality control, an energy-efficient building
MEP Engineers: Setty & Associates International, PLLC
envelope, and high-efficiency mechanical systems.” The project meets
Civil Engineers: A. Morton Thomas & Associates
Gold-level certification for the LEED for Homes rating system.
Geotechnical Engineers: ECS Capitol Services
A key design challenge “was how to sensitively accommodate
Cost Consultants: TCT Cost Consultants
the full programmatic requirements, including a [city-established]
LEED Green Rater: Pando Alliance, LLC
maximum unit count of ten per floor, on a steeply-sloping site
General Contractor: MCN Build
surrounded by low-rise residential buildings along 6th Street, SE,
to the east, and taller, four-to-five story structures to the north and
Close to the Maryland border, at 4225 6th Street, SE, in the Highlands
west,” the firm said. To address that challenge, “the building has
neighborhood, is The Triumph—a project whose name isn’t an act of
been shifted westward, away from the street and toward the back
hubris by its designer, DLR Group, but rather an honor bestowed
of the lot, which helps integrate the new facility with its context by
on the project by its surrounding community. The six-story, 36,000-
visually strengthening its connection to its larger-scale neighbors while
square-foot building, which includes 50 residential units and
also providing an opportunity for a large, landscaped forecourt to act
supporting amenity spaces, provides short-term housing for families
as an attractive green buffer between the street and the building.”
from across Washington as part of the city’s plan to replace the
Landscape terracing and “a façade composed of a series of
dilapidated central emergency shelter at DC General Hospital with
setbacks combine to break down the massing of the residential
a collection of smaller-scale, service-enriched, community-based
housing block,” the firm said. “The façade’s volumetric use of
shelters located in each of the city’s eight wards. The Triumph is
54 STRENGTH IN NUMBERS