Lida Lewis
PASSIONATE DESIGNER
EDUCATOR | THOUGHT LEADER
1333 H Street NW
1333 H Street in Northwest DC two buildings in one--the west section is historic, and another, the east, is a mid-block infill building. We were approached by the building management for assistance in repositioning some of the space on the east 4th and 5th floors, which, despite multiple showings, renderings of potential designs, and the valiant efforts of the management and leasing teams, had not had a positive reaction to the market.
In touring the space, the potential was clear. Rare for DC buildings, the potential ceiling height was almost 12', due to the steel construction. Windows stretched across most of the facade, and a double height atrium was an impressive entry from the elevator lobby.
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On the down side, the floorplate was unusually deep with a plan that was difficult to divide without creating complex code issues and obscure travel paths to suite entries. The building's FAR was within 200 feet of maximum, making closing the opening in the floorplate impossible. The majority of the window line was also alley facing, making it difficult to provide attractive views and street frontage for the majority of suites.
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In a study of the space, however, I was able to repackage the building's challenges as opportunities.
Instead of focusing on the alley frontage, FAR, and code challenges, I decided to flip the focus of the space from the exterior to the interior. Utilizing the existing slab cut, I positioned a new bridge element to partially infill the opening and give it a more human scale and feel. Creating a new streetscape on the building interior, I developed a design scheme which focused on biophilia and creating storefront style entries to each suite that would allow each tenant to feel as if they had their own building entry off of the lounge space. This central lounge space also created an opportunity to provide a myriad of small gathering areas for use by each of the floor's tenants, and minimize the need for conferencing and lounge spaces within their own suites--also supplemented by the building's existing first floor conference and roof deck. The resulting design scheme provided a new position for maximizing the advantages of what, at first, seemed to be insurmountable challenges.
