Construction Update: International Spy Museum
Southwest corner.
Construction has wrapped up at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ new home for the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. Previously located in a 19th Century building in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of DC since 2002, the museum will open in its new building at L’Enfant Plaza this May. The three-story exhibition space is located in a pleated “black box” that angles out towards 10th Street and accented by red steel fins. A glass veil at the west facade encloses an atrium and double height ground floor lobby and museum store. A setback two-story event space with views of the city sits above the angled exhibition volume, the roof of which allows for a rooftop terrace.
South entry.
Ground floor lobby.
West facade.
Looking up at the west facade.
West entry.
Northwest corner.
Closeup of the north facade.
Construction Update DC: Midtown Center
Southwest corner from L Street NW.
Construction has wrapped up at Midtown Center, an office complex in downtown Washington, D.C. Developed by Carr Properties, the 12-story, 862,000 RSF complex is built on the site of the former Washington Post headquarters.
Southeast corner from L Street NW.
SHoP Architects has designed the complex with a c-shaped footprint, with retail wrapping around a public plaza and office floors above. The east and west office blocks are connected by a network of pedestrian bridges at multiple floors. A 5,000 SF rooftop terrace and shared conference space caps the office building.
Close-up of the west façade of the west tower.
The office block is clad in a glass-and-copper façade designed with panels that gradually rotate outward to provide solar shading without compromising views. Over time, the copper elements of the curtain wall will gradually patina.
Criss crossing pedestrian bridges above the public plaza.
Detail of the pedestrian bridges.
Pedestrian bridges connecting the east and west tower.
