Page 52 - ArchDC_Fall 2020

The church before renovation. Photo courtesy of StudioMB

The converted church now known as the 13th Street Sanctuary. Photo ©
Thomas Holdsworth
Washingtonian Residential Design Award private bathrooms, and shared kitchens, living rooms,
and common areas.
13th Street Sanctuary “While living with roommates isn’t new, organized

Washington, DC co-living is a new model that responds to increased
debt, high housing costs, and a desire to offset
StudioMB expenses,” the firm said. “Cost-effective and flexible,
Interior Designers: StudioMB in collaboration with it allows tenants to rent sleeping rooms in larger-scale
[apartment] units.”
Common The project rescued a building that was in need of
Structural Engineers: Ehlert Bryan help. “Having suffered significant structural damage
MEP Engineers: MC Engineers in the 2011 Mid-Atlantic earthquake, the building
Civil Engineers: CAS Engineering was deemed unsafe and sold,” the firm said. “The
General Contractor: Harbour Builders
technical challenges associated with reusing it included
introducing new slotted window openings into the
The 13th Street Sanctuary, an adaptive reuse project heavy masonry exterior while paying homage to the
designed by the architecture firm StudioMB, converted building’s original architectural elements and adhering
a neglected 1917 neo-Gothic church building located to the city’s standards for retaining significant
at the corner of 13th and Monroe streets, NW, in architectural defining features.”
Washington’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, into an The design inserted full floors into the sanctuary,
eight-unit co-living structure with 46 private bedrooms,
creating a building with two co-living units on each of
50 APARTMENT HUNTING