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ArchDC Winter 2017.qxp_Fall 2017 11/17/17 5:48 PM Page 34
The stepped roofs of the Apartments at CityCenterDC. Photo © Aker Imaging

Living Arrangements
Living Arrangements

Three Projects Cater to Quite Different

Residential Clients
by Denise Liebowitz

As one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation, Washington challenges architects to design multifamily homes for a range of
needs and budgets. At the high end of the market, a prestige location, over-the-top amenities, and luxurious finishes justify the cost; at the
affordable end of the scale, functionality, safety, and durability are more the focus. Among the three winners in the multifamily housing
category of this year’s Washingtonian Residential Design Awards (one of which also won a Chapter Award for Architecture), one caters to
those at the top of the heap, another to new college grads searching for their first group house, and the third to street people in need of a
roof over their heads. But whether their project is deluxe or bare-bones, the winning architects have brought to their work innovative
design, up-to-the-minute technology and materials, and careful thought about the lives of those who will inhabit the homes they build.

Merit Award in Architecture/Washingtonian Award CityCenterDC, the super-sleek complex of offices, condos, shops,
and apartments, which opened for business in 2015 and spans the
The Apartments at CityCenter DC 10-acre site where Washington’s old Convention Center once
Washington, DC stood, is one of the largest urban redevelopment undertakings in
the city’s recent history. Stretching south from New York Avenue
Shalom Baranes Associates between 9th and 11th streets, NW, CityCenterDC offers dozens of
high-end stores (think Hermès), plenty of eateries, and an inviting
Interior Designers: Shalom Baranes Associates; Envision Design;
public plaza with greenery, fountains, and arty video installations.
SR/A Interior Architecture + Design
The first phase of the development includes two office buildings,
Landscape Architects: Lee and Associates; Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
two condominium buildings, and two rental apartment buildings.
Lighting Designers: Claude Engle Lighting; Coventry Lighting
A luxury hotel is now under construction and another office
Structural Engineers: SK&A Structural Engineers, PLLC;
building is yet to come. This is “placemaking” writ large.
Thornton Tomasetti
The design of the paired apartment buildings is by Shalom
MEP Engineers: Dewberry
Baranes Associates, a large and highly regarded firm that also
Exterior Enclosure Engineers: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
served as architect of record for the entire first phase of the
General Contractor: Clark/Smoot at CityCenter—A Joint Venture
project. Design principal Robert Sponseller, AIA, led the
Shalom Baranes team.
34 LIVING ARRANGEMENTS