PROJECT  Watergate East Lobbies

LOCATION  Washington, District of Columbia, US​

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  2/20/2019

Firm(s): McInturff Architects 

Design Team Members: Mark McInturff FAIA, Julia Heine, David Mogensen AIA, Jeffrey McInturff

Client: Watergate East, Inc.
Contractor/Construction Manager: Alan Kanner / Added Dimensions

Landscape Architect: 

Structural Engineer: 

Civil Engineer: 

Mechanical Engineer: Adam R. Kovach PE LEED AP BD+C / FACE Associates

Electrical Engineer: Luis Arencibia / FACE Associates

Photographer(s): Anice Hoachlander Photography
Additional project support: Lighting Design Flux Studios Brian McIntyre brian@fluxstudio.net
Owner's Representative - Mark Pirone C2C Inc mpirone@c2c-inc.com
Code/Life Safety - Eric Mayl PE emayl@coregr.com CORE Engineers Consulting Group
Specifications - Rosa D. Cheney AIA Rosa.Cheney@RDCAIA.com

PROJECT SUMMARY

Designed by noted post-war Italian architect Luigi Moretti, the design for the Watergate Complex began in 1960 and construction was completed in 1971. The first building, Watergate East, was formally dedicated in October 1965.

The complex was one of Washington’s most iconic addresses even before the notorious events around the 1972 break-in; at its opening, Watergate East became the most sought-after living location in the city.

Sited on a prominent bend in the Potomac River, the curvilinear geometry of the building takes as much from the natural river and shoreline landscape as it does from L’Enfant’s classic plan for Washington.

The 6-building / 6-owner, mixed-use complex has 3 residential buildings, each with their own lobbies. We were asked to renovate the public spaces of Watergate East, a co-op with split lobbies on Virginia Avenue that flank and bookend the main entry to the site and its center public courtyard.

Multiple lobby renovations had occurred in the years since Luigi Moretti’s iconic work was completed. While limited to the existing lobby footprints, we sought to reconnect the lobbies to the exterior of the buildings through geometry, materials and lighting, and to bring them back to the spirit of the original details, reconfiguring but adding no additional space.

The surviving original Moretti details were preserved and in some cases extended, while new detailing involves materials, fabrication and technology that would not have been available to Moretti in 1966, but which he surely would have embraced.

The signature terrazzo floors were restored, and are now complemented by a new palette of curved Corian walls, mahogany cabinets, bronze mailboxes and kicks, and marble slab desks and wall panels, capped by a polished white Venetian plaster ceiling.

Other earlier details that were typical of the available technology of the time, such as prominent ceiling HVAC diffusers and clumsy lighting fixtures, were replaced with modern discreet elements allowing the new curvilinear surfaces to have a more seamless appearance.

Accommodations of other needs not known in Moretti’s time, such as whole rooms for storage of Amazon deliveries and current technology for office and security staff, were also incorporated.

These two important lobbies that flank the main entrance to the complex once again are an extension of the fluid architectural language Moretti planned almost 70 years ago.

JURY COMMENTS (if applicable)

The project has an elegant use of lighting and rich material pallete. The curving surfaces and sculptural forms totally transform the space. The before and after photography speaks to this.

It’s wise to use a light hand when designing within an iconic structure. Clean details and classic finishes work well to complement the original details of Moretti’s design.

The Watergate East lobby renovation is a thoughtful and restrained modernization of an iconic mid-century building that respects Luigi Moretti’s original architectural language while successfully adapting the spaces for contemporary use. The lobbies still feel unmistakably like Moretti spaces, with the restored terrazzo floors, curved forms, marble, mahogany, bronze detailing, and integrated lighting reinforcing the original fluid geometry rather than competing with it. The preservation and extension of surviving historic details, combined with discreet modern systems and contemporary functional needs, demonstrate an appropriate balance between preservation and innovation.

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF

IMAGES (Captions and Photographer Credit)
1. South Lobby reception desk / Anice Hoachlander
2. South lobby opens to Virginia Avenue beyond / Anice Hoachlander
3. Curved Corian walls and polished plaster ceilings reflect light to terrazzo floor / Anice Hoachlander
4. North lobby reception desk of curved Corian, marble, bronze and mahogany / Anice Hoachlander
5. Staggered light slots in curved Corian walls / Anice Hoachlander
6. Reception desk with bronze mailboxes and package storage behind mahogany panels / Anice Hoachlander
7. View into North Lobby from entry plaza / Anice Hoachlander
8. Sunlight bounces from polished plaster ceilings onto terrazzo floors / Anice Hoachlander