Alexander Court is a Class A office development in the core of Washington DC’s Central Business District which repositions two existing office buildings (2001 K Street and 2000 L Street). The large scale reconfiguration employs a four-story vertical addition and new cladding for 2000 L Street to transform the two buildings, providing gracious new public spaces for tenants, including an iconic, twelve story glass atrium.
Collectively, the two-story lobby, mezzanine, atrium, and adjacent spaces are redesigned as one coherent entry sequence. The centerpiece of the project is a reconfigured, expansive two-story lobby at the corner of 20th & L Streets, which transitions into the atrium and continues into the former main K Street building entry. This grand lobby is articulated on the exterior with an open and inviting appearance that welcomes visitors and tenants. The atrium creates a vertical, sunlit spine between the existing K Street and L Street buildings and features a uniform wood fin element that wraps into both the K and L Street entrance lobbies, forming a solid wood ceiling. This design component unifies the entire public space located at different levels of the complex and mediates different aesthetics between the old and new. It also functions as a part of the project’s daylight control system. The development features improvements to the overall vertical transportation systems, new storefronts, canopies and interior finishes.
The reconfigured exterior is expressed as a series of slanted, interweaving masses breaking the 400-foot long L Street façade into floor-to- ceiling, high performance, glassy components, juxtaposing smooth and textured surfaces. This expression, together with the east and west projections and upper floor setbacks, conceals the building’s mass, while revealing an architectural scale more consistent with neighboring structures. The vertical mass is divided into smaller scale sections composed of a base, middle and top that alter the perception of the building’s overall height from the street. The rooftop conference center and terrace provide open views of the National Cathedral to the northwest.
Material Used:
1. Wood Veneer Micro Perforated Acoustic Ceiling – ACG Inc – Quarter Cut Angre
2. Atrium flooring – Euro Marble – Basalite Extra Dura
3. Fiber Cement Panels – Nichiha USA – Illumination series
4. Penthouse metal panel – Centria – Formabond
5. Curtainwall – Viracon – Clear insulated with low E coating on #2 Surface
6. Lobby Wall – Henroux – Statuary White Marble
