1100 First Street, NE

Washington, DC

Awards

AIA Chicago Chapter Citation of Merit

Chicago Architecture Foundation Patron of the Year

AIA Chicago Chapter Interior Architecture

Photography: Prakash Patel

This building redefines the expectations of the speculative office building. Designed as two distinct blocks on a 1.7-acre site, the forms of this glass-clad building emphasize the vertical and activate a dynamic courtyard at the complex's center.

Glass, the building’s exterior material, is used in two different but related ways: cleanly detailed and folded at the courtyard to lighten the volume and clearly identify the main façade, and more deferential and modular at the adjacent streets.

LEED® Gold was achieved through site strategies, water savings, and energy efficiency.

The high-performance façade uses glass in varying directions for careful infiltration. Controlled reflection provides an open and light-filled building with daylight and views to over 75% of its occupied areas.

Throughout the building, natural light penetrates deep into the plate from the floor to ceiling exterior glazing. All of the glazing units are insulated with a low-E coating, providing superior energy performance.

The ground floor lobby opens up the building to the scale of the street. Detailed with care and sophistication, the lobby creates a distinctive identity.