—
To better accommodate current and future growth, the American Red Cross has broken ground on a new national headquarters building on the organization’s site at the corner of 21st and E Streets in northwest Washington, D.C. The project combines historic preservation and new construction in a 750,000-square-foot building. The existing, historically significant 85,000-square-foot Red Cross Chapter House is incorporated into the project, relocated from the middle of the site to the front of the property. Rising behind it is an efficient new 10-story office tower. After dismantling the existing structure, followed by the foundation phase of the project, Clark Construction Group, LLC recently began construction of the base building.
Designed by Shalom Baranes Associates of Washington, D.C., much of the original material, such as the limestone facade, historic window frames, interior millwork and marble, was saved from the old Red Cross Chapter House. The project team’s first task is to reconstruct this five-story building. Bridging the old with the new, this historic structure will connect to a new 10-story addition by a dramatic skylit structure. This skylight covers the main lobby of the new office building, which is an impressive seven-story atrium.
Wrapped in an intricate skin, the new building’s facade is comprised of an architectural mix of limestone, curtain wall and embossed metal panels. The details of the building envelope enhance more than 450,000 square feet of new office space inside. Two central cores span the ten floors above ground to house mechanical/electrical equipment, vertical transportation and bathrooms. Two levels of below grade parking also are included.
In addition to Clark and the architect, the project team includes Joseph R. Loring & Associates of Washington, D.C., mechanical/electrical engineering; Tadjer Cohen & Edelson of Silver Spring, Md., structural engineering; Wiles Mensch of Reston, Va., civil engineering; and Stephenson & Good of Alexandria, Va., landscape architecture.
The anticipated completion date for the base building of the American Red Cross Headquarters is the spring of 2002. Clark Construction Group, LLC is headquartered in Bethesda, Md.
###