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Architects: Krueck + Sexton Architects: Krueck & Sexton Architects
- Area: 355000 ft²
- Year: 2009
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Photographs:Prakash Patel
Text description provided by the architects. Krueck + Sexton’s architectural design vision for 1100 First Street re-defines the expectations of the speculative office building in Washington, D.C. Organized as two distinct 350,000 sqf blocks on a 1.7 acre site, the forms of this glass-clad building pair are subtly manipulated to emphasize verticality and activate a dynamic courtyard at the center of the complex. This space brings natural light deep into the site and identifies the building’s main entry.
In a city known more for stone facades and traditional windows, 1100 First Street is decisively modern in its expression and 21st century in its technology. Glass, the building’s exterior material, is used in two different but related ways: cleanly detailed and folded at the courtyard in a manner that lightens each volume and clearly identifies the main facade, and more deferential and modular at the adjacent streets. The architectural language that results from the precise articulation of surfaces and edges is timeless and enduring.
A high-performance facade, which uses glass in varying directions for careful infiltration and controlled reflection, provides for an open & light-filled building offering daylight and views to over 75% of its occupied areas. Throughout the building’s office spaces, natural light penetrates deep into the plate from the floor to ceiling exterior glazing. All of the glazing units are insulated with a low-e coating, providing superior energy performance.
At the ground floor the lobby is revealed, opening up the building to the scale of the street. Detailed with care and sophistication, the lobby design draws upon the language of the exterior to create a distinctive identity. The first completed building of the pair is certified LEED Gold, achieved through site strategies, water savings and energy efficiency.
