Project Description

20 F Street, NW, also known as The American College of Surgeons Building, is set in the middle of a long block in the District of Columbia, where zoning regulations dictate a common height to all structures, and where buildings are contextual by nature, similar by default.

The project’s location on Capitol Hill allowed for the development of a unique program for promoting health care initiatives to Congress through conferences and symposia.  The mid-block site was an opportunity to introduce a contemporary vocabulary into an otherwise continuous masonry street wall. 

This ten-story office complex features a full height curtain wall along the northern façade with a glazed reveal.  A 30”-wide vision glass module emphasizes the building’s verticality and gives materiality to its reflective surface.  The façade’s glass plane is incised to create a reveal that serves as a visual focus from afar and leads the eye downward to the building’s entrance.  At the ground level, low-iron vision glass enables pedestrians to look directly into the two-story lobby and reception area.  This glazing continues upwards through the notched reveal and contrasts against the reflective silver-blue color of the curtain wall.  

The east façade of the ell-shaped floor plate echoes the masonry of the adjacent Phoenix Hotel.  Thin brick precast panels with punched and ribbon windows relate to the local architectural vocabulary and allow ample day-lighting on all floors.  A secondary curtain wall, parallel to the street on the short part of the ell, echoes the visual lightness of the main façade and creates a mirror image of the masonry wall that accentuates its thinness.  

Upon entering the building, visitors step down to the lobby, allowing for a double-height space to be achieved within Washington, DC’s strict building codes.  The ground floor serves as the main common space for the building with multiple conference centers, a large pre-function space, a fitness center, as well as a pantry.  Meeting spaces (designed in conjunction with the Owner’s interior architect) on either side of the core are partitioned from the lobby with clear glazing. 

The lobby is framed with figured cherry panels, while the core is defined as a marble volume behind the reception desk.  Stainless steel vertical accent strips embedded in the millwork of the wood panels coincide with and reinforce the 30” module of the exterior curtain wall.

At the second story, a glass wall with a graduated frit pattern provides the tenant space with maximum privacy while allowing for ample daylight and views in an otherwise windowless space.  

A public roof terrace offers expansive views of Union Station, the Capitol, and the Library of Congress.  Typical office floors of about 17,000 sf were designed to allow up to three tenants per floor.  Loading facilities and three levels of below-grade parking accommodate 120 cars and are accessed from the rear alley. 

Selected Recognition

LEED Certified, Gold

Photography © Heintges

Role

Senior Designer