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Site
A through-block site between 12th–13th Streets, fronting on E Street directly off Pennsylvania Avenue, three blocks from the White House

Index to Projects in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Gross Floor Area
550,000 s/f

Client
The Kaempfer Company

Time Frame
Planning: 2/87–
Construction: 9/89–
Completion: 1993

Warner Building /
1299 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C.
Completed 1993

 

Lead Designer: James Ingo Freed

 

12-story investment office building with atrium, retail spine and restored landmark theater
 

Click on image to enlarge

This mixed-use project, involving a complex process of site assemblage, historic preservation, and new construction made possible the restoration of the landmark Warner Theater. Included in the project are the 2,000-seat theater, the 13-story commercial structure in which it is housed, and a new 13-story building attached and internally linked to create a block-long functional whole.

The project was designed to complement the historic fabric while asserting an independent presence as a work of modern architecture. Street elevations are fragmented by varied materials, colors and shapes in order to reduce the apparent bulk of the new 550,000 square foot mass and to better relate to existing neighbors.

Entrance from 13th Street is one level below the theater, but above grade at the opposite (12th Street) end. To mediate the difference, each entrance opens onto a block-through retail spine that stretches out from a landscaped fountain atrium. Because of the theater's great volume and the need to accommodate the client's requirement for maximum office space, the atrium is shaped asymmetrically (somewhat like a faceted "S") so that it slopes up to the skylight in irregular planes. Increasing the number and variety of windowed office exposures, it results in a distinctive building with a dynamic public space that is unique in modern commercial architecture.

 

Major Components

11 office floors (38,000–50,000 s/f), faceted skylit atrium with landscaped fountain court, ground and lower level arcades, fitness center, 3-level underground garage, historic Warner Theater renovation

 

Awards

1993

District of Columbia Preservation League:
Fourth Annual Preservation Award

 

1993

District of Columbia Industry Association:
Special Achievement Award for Extraordinary Projects in the City

 

1993

Washington Building Congress:
STAR Award for Visual Excellence

 

1993

American Concrete Institute:
Most Complex Concrete Frame Award

 

1992

American Institute of Architects
Washington D.C. Chapter: Merit Award


 

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners services

Complete Architectural Services

 

Associate Architect

Shalom Baranes Associates, Washington, D.C. (Theater Renovation)

 

Structural

Tadjer-Cohen-Edelson Associates, Silver Spring, MD

 

Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing

GHT Chartered, Arlington, VA

 

Foundation Support System

Mueser Rutledge, New York, NY

 

 

Photo credits

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