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ArchDC Summer 2017.qxp_Summer 2017 5/24/17 10:52 AM Page 82

Representative interior of a unit
at the Leo and Lex.

Photo © EricTaylorPhoto.com

the country’s largest woman-owned architecture firm. When Developers Urban Atlantic and the JBG Companies engaged W+A
originally completed in 1972, the towers flanked Waterside Mall, a to design the conversion. Renovation work on the buildings began
key component of the Southwest Washington urban renewal effort in 2012. The 266-unit east tower was delivered in late 2013, and the
of the 1960s and ’70s. 264-unit west tower was delivered in late 2014. Originally called
Like other buildings of the time, and similar to buildings in Sky House East and West, they were rebranded in 2015 as the Leo
nearby L’Enfant Plaza, the two towers were elevated on pedestals and and Lex at Waterfront Station following their sale to the Bernstein
composed of strong planes of pure gray concrete, with bronze-tinted Management Corporation.
reflective-glass windows, giving them a fortress-like appearance, In designing the conversion, W+A faced three principal
particularly in terms of how they met the street. Somewhat ironically, challenges. One was to make the buildings’ exteriors look more
given what has now happened to them, they were originally residential overall, and more engaging at street level in particular,
envisioned as including some residential space, but were instead while keeping renovation costs under control. The resulting exterior
completed as pure office buildings. design employs an off-white base tone with light- and medium-
The Waterside Mall never flourished, and was eventually gray accents, punctuated by aluminum-framed windows that offer
demolished and replaced by a pair of new mixed-use office and some transparency. The scheme makes the buildings more inviting—
retail buildings designed by Shalom Baranes Associates (SBA). The and also more compatible with the color tones and window
two new SBA-designed buildings sit on either side of a reopened patterns of the new SBA-designed mixed-use buildings that they
stretch of 4th Street, SW, breaking up a superblock that was created effectively bookend.
for the mall, and form the core of a new town center called “A hierarchy of horizontal banding breaks down the building
Waterfront Station that was master planned by SBA. The project scale and creates a tripartite façade,” said Michael A. Wiencek, Jr.,
was covered in the Fall 2010 issue of ARCHITECTUREDC. FAIA, NCARB, USGBC, LEED AP BD+C, president of W+A.
The two office towers originally fared better than the mall, “Multiple shades of blue-and gray-tinted glazing modulate the
becoming home to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). building, further emphasizing the horizontal while also creating
Eventually, however, the EPA moved out, and the towers, which vertical divisions as defined by colored glass and metal panels.”
were no longer competitive against local Class A office buildings, In designing the exterior, Wiencek continued, “we originally
became vacant. looked at a curtain wall system, to be in keeping with the original
With a new town center core in place, the Waterfront Metro master plan/PUD [Planned Unit Development] documents prepared
station only steps away, prices on vacant office buildings dropping, by [SBA] for the entire development. We found that we could
and young adults flooding into Washington, the conversion of the produce the same appearance using a standard window system
two vacant towers into luxury apartments suddenly made sense. that was rated for the height and wind load. This change saved

82 CONVERTIBLE LIVING