Historic church will be part of new condo building in D.C.

In Washington D.C., a new condo building is slated to go up alongside a historic church—and incorporate the church into its design.

Sorg Architects unveiled a design scheme for 40 condos in a six-story building, which will wrap around the church. The church itself is designated a historic site. Four residential units will be built within, one for each floor. Sorg has already done extensive renovations and structural work on the church, given that it acquired the structure in 2006 and has been planning this condo building ever since. (In 2006, the firm presented a similar design to the Historic Presentation Review Board, but the project was shelved during the recession.)

Sorg presented the design for the project on Monday January 27, and it was approved by the Advisory Neighborhood Committee 1B, along with two zoning variances. However, a committee member objected to the design, comparing it to other generic-looking condo buildings in the D.C. area.

Sorg Architects principal Suman Sorg responded that the core of the complex’s design is dictated by the church, and that the finished project would likely look very different from the presented rendering.

“The materiality of this building will be very different,” said said, according to Urban Turf. “Since the basic structure is sort of prescribed, we feel we can accentuate (the architecture) with the material choices.”

The two zoning variances the firm is pursuing involve the rear setback of the building and the lot occupancy, which in the current plan is 10 percent higher than dictated.