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Project: John and Jill Ker Conway Residence,
1005 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC

Architects: DLR Group | Sorg | Westlake Reed Leskosky
Structural Engineers: SK&A Structural Engineers
MEP Engineers: Allen & Shariff
Civil Engineers/Landscape Architects: Christopher Consultants
Development Consultant: Chapman Todd
Contractor: GCS-SIGAL

The building in context along
North Capitol Street.

Pushing the
Pushing the

(Building) Envelope
(Building) Envelope

Affordable Housing
for Veterans Defies

Institutional Stereotype

by Scott Frank
All photos © Robert Benson Photography
Situated amid the development bonanza happening seemingly in management offices, a lounge, fitness center, conference space, and
every inch of the NoMa neighborhood, the John and Jill Ker ground floor retail, all integrated with on-site support services to
Conway Residence dramatically stands out on North Capitol Street address the social, medical, and emotional needs of residents.
with its alternating, jagged projecting forms abutting a historic “[A]s we considered our approach, we had to find economic
church. The 14-story project has 124 units, including 77 units of efficiencies in every part of the design,” said Sorg. Extensive research
permanent supportive housing—60 of which are for formerly was also conducted into design strategies that would best accommo-
homeless veterans—plus 47 units for affordable housing tenants. date the residents, and solutions range from the fundamental to the
The project was designed by Suman Sorg, FAIA, design leader more detailed and technological. Sorg continued, “Creating a healthy
and senior principal at DLR Group | Sorg | Westlake Reed and inspiring environment is at the crux of the design and is critical
Leskosky. It is named in honor of Jill Ker Conway, a former presi- for the environmental sensitivities of residents transitioning out of
dent of Smith College who founded the non-profit housing devel- homelessness and back into society.”
oper Community Solutions, and her late husband. The design team took aim at the fundamental challenge of this
“[The architects] had a clear vision that matched what the project: the unique nature of the primary users. Veteran homeless
development team wanted to accomplish,” said Chapman Todd, lead populations have higher incidences of physical and psychological
project manager with Community Solutions, which collaborated disability, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress
with for-profit developer McCormack Baron Salazar on the project. disorder (PTSD), which an inhospitable physical environment
The building opened—after years of bureaucratic wrangling—to can exacerbate.
great fanfare and media attention. The payoff is tremendous, with

PUSHING THE (BUILDING) ENVELOPE 73