Washington, DC

Friends Meeting of Washington consists of three buildings spread throughout a small campus bordered by Florida Ave., Decatur Pl., and Phelps Pl. in the DuPont Circle Area. Built into a sloping site, all the buildings are set at different elevations; there currently is no accessible route into 90% of the spaces, accessible internal circulation is nonexistent. Our design solution creates a new lobby for the entire campus on Decatur Place. The new entry counters the rusticated stone of the meeting house with a transparent connection to the newly designed rear garden.

The addition connects all spaces on the campus including the two level garden via a series of stacked corridors connected by a new main stair and an elevator. The addition by its nature is a green element adding a layer of temperate space between the un-insulated brick wall of Quaker and Carriage House. Other sustainable features include a green roof and a multi-port mechanical system which allows zoning on a room by room basis.

We teamed with Evan Lippincott of Lippincott Architects throughout the design of this project.