Yesterday we obtained BZA approval for our Colorado Condominium building, a ground up 5-unit development coming up near Georgia Ave NW. Obtaining approval for what amounted o 3 variances and 2 special exceptions was not easy, and required a very strategic balancing act between developer goals, community/ANC desires and the Zoning Regulations. The building consist of 3 stories, cellar and penthouse, and 3 2-bedroom and 2 1-bedroom dwelling units in a mere 3,690 sq ft.

The original building proposed was larger and required a variance for increasing FAR. Early in our coordination efforts with the ANC and the Office of Planning, it became clear that in order for us to obtain approval for a higher density development it was important that it include one affordable unit. As a result, we opted into Inclusionary Zoning, allowing us to increase the FAR of the building without the need for an additional variance. While other variances were still required, they resulted from the higher FAR allowable under IZ guidelines. We would have to propose a much smaller building, however.

In order for the project to remain viable it was important that it contain at least 5 quality dwelling units. Fitting that many units into the framework we were working with was like solving a 3-D puzzle. Here are some of the ways we were able to increase the use of the very limited square footage we had to work with:

ground level units are accessed directly from the side of the building, eliminating the need for redundant interior circulation;
shared stairs/hallways are minimized. The building has a mere 116 sq ft of shared space, and the efficiency rate is just under 97%.
we took advantage of planar and sectional relationships between various building elements, by interweaving them in a ying-yang manner;
we manipulated the building height by creating an attic level, allowing us to stack a stack up to the penthouse 1/2 outside the footprint of the penthouse itself, which needed to comply with setback requirements;
we created a series of pivoting bay window boxes that allowed us to gain living space on the interior of the each unit as needed due to interior layout constraints, without being constrained by consistent exterior walls;
we employed an exterior stair as the second means of egress, avoiding unnecessary increases to FAR.

The circulation spine of the building, with only a front entrance vestibule and one flight of stairs as shared space.

Back to back duplexes occupy the 1st floor and cellar levels.

The 2nd floor contains a 1-bedroom unit at the front, and 1/2 a 1-bedroom duplex at the rear.

The 3rd floor contains the bedroom and bathroom for the 2nd floor duplex unit, along with the main level of a 2-bedroom duplex unit that also occupies the penthouse.

Although they appear to be merely formal in nature at first glance, the pivoting bay window boxes are tools to help us solve our 3-D puzzle, as mentioned previously, and to help us to address the surrounding context. They break up the building vertically, serving as a way to break down the scale of the building with respect to smaller neighbors to the South, and provide a sculptural response to this building on a corner lot abutting an alley. The lowest of the boxes in similar in scale to front porches of the neighboring buildings, further helping to bridge between the older buildings and ours.

In many areas throughout Washington DC, mixed use/commercial zoning districts are adjacent to residential districts, creating large disparities in scale at their borderline, often between one side of the street and another, or between a corner and the rest of the block.

Following on my previous post regarding design strategies for pop-up additions to traditional row houses, I would like to share some early images of a new project on the boards that is, to say the least, the Mother of all Pop-Ups. It happens to be in a mixed use district, which allows much larger buildings than the single family traditional row dwellings that currently existing along that block. With that in mind, we are approaching the design our our 12 unit building as a prototype that could potentially be repeated down the block, or at least a portion of it, creating a larger scale version of the rhythm that exists along traditional blocks of row dwellings throughout the city.

While our proposed building by itself towers over its neighbors, when repeated as module it becomes a playful reinterpretation of the smaller traditional blocks or row dwellings surrounding it, and can act as an effective bridge between the scale of the row dwellings and that of nearby commercial buildings.

As we all know, many traditional row house blocks were designed as repeating modules, and were often built as blocks at one time, not individual buildings, resulting in beautiful rhythmic streets.

Of course, designing prototypes that work well as a larger group and allow for the creation of more (much needed) dwelling units without sticking out like a sore thumb sounds great from a planning stand point, but given that each row dwelling is owned by a different family, it is not the most realistic approach. But who knows? Hopefully at least one of the neighboring buildings will go up for sale one of these days…