CLIENTHoffman & Associates
SERVICESMaster Planning, New Construction, Interiors
LOCATIONWashington, DC
SIZE165,000 sq ft
STATUSCompleted 2018
CERTIFICATIONLEED Gold®
Located at the inflection point where 7th Street SW turns toward Washington Channel, The Banks is an urban gateway between the established residential neighborhood of Southwest Washington and the emerging Wharf waterfront district. STUDIOS was selected by Hoffman and Associates to design the building and interior architecture. In addition, the team led the PUD entitlement process in a successful collaboration with the church design architect, Geier Brown Renfrow, to redevelop the site for the Riverside Baptist Church, 170 apartments and retail, to include a daycare intended to serve young families at The Banks.
The building architecture celebrates the rigor and simplicity of the neighborhood’s Mid-Century modernism reimagined with a contemporary massing and articulation. In the spirit of DC’s modernist history, the design embraces precast concrete as the major exterior material, but uses texture, tone, and proportion to express a contemporary character.
Due to the site’s unique visibility at the bend in 7th Street SW, STUDIOS massed the building as two separate volumes, signaling the main entrance and creating a welcoming public plaza. This simple move allowed the building’s north end to step-down two stories, gracefully merging the new architecture with the neighborhood’s historic “high-low” development mix. The two separate volumes also allowed for 50% more corner units facing the water and an additional roof terrace amenity at the eighth floor.
The result is a simple, elegant building in harmony with its neighbors, with the history of the site, and with the promising trajectory of a walkable, waterfront development in Southwest Washington DC.
Awards and Press
- Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards: Outstanding Project — 2019
PHOTOGRAPHYAlan Karchmer
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