Page 51 - ArchDC_Fall 2020

Kitchen and living area of one unit. Photo © Greg Powers Photography
One Apartment and Four
Multi-Family Projects Earn Honors by Ronald O’Rourke
Second floor bathroom in one unit. Photo © Greg Powers Photography
The Duvall Court project, designed by KUBE architecture PC,
inserted seven small row houses into an alley in Washington’s
Hill East neighborhood, creating the horizontal equivalent of
a small apartment building on a site that until 2016 had been
categorized as unbuildable by the DC Zoning Code. The two-story,
two-bedroom residences are efficiently designed to make the
most of their limited footprints, which measure no more than
13 feet in width and 38 feet in length. (One has a footprint only
nine feet wide, while two others have footprints 33 feet long.)
“The buildings are derived from one prototype with
common components, but each offers its own variation from the
kit of parts, depending on the possibilities of each individual
site,” the firm said. “Efficient use of space, overlapping
functions, flexibility, and simplicity of construction are common
themes. Bay windows allow for more interior floor space, but
don’t touch the ground so as not to increase lot coverage. The
rear yard can serve as either a green space or driveway, with
permeable paving to assist with drainage. Multiple sources of
natural light on the interiors make the spaces feel larger, and
walkable green roofs allow for outdoor gardens and relaxation.”
Construction affordability was a major design
consideration. “The houses are constructed with wood
framing and easily accessible materials so that they were
economical to build,” the firm said. “Windows and doors are all
standard sizes, allowing for them to be ordered in bulk. While
dimensions of the houses vary, they are designed to be modular,
so similar sizes of materials could be purchased at one time.
Façades are generally rain screens [lightweight screens set off
from the structural wall] with composite panels, which allowed
for flexibility of façade material selection.”
Duvall Court is one of a growing number of well-designed
smaller residential projects in Washington that are helping to
revive, in a modern form, the historic use of alleys as residential
locations. “Bright colors on the exterior distinguish the
houses and bring life to this urban space,” the firm said. “This
development serves as a model for future alley neighborhoods
in Washington, DC, and other cities around the country.”
The jurors admired the project as an example of
“densification in a nice way—exemplary in rethinking the city,
using space that is available without adding towers.” The project
is “modest, but there’s a real sense of [the urban] fabric.” They
summed it up as “elevated architecture” with “no waste or fluff.”
APARTMENT HUNTING 49