ODA has completed a new multifamily structure in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard that comprises 465 apartments in a single square block. The project’s cascading facade creates a connection at the street level to provide the building with a transparent, approachable feel.
Dubbed West Half, the 10-story residential building includes unique apartment layouts that break the typical D.C. building mass into a more human scale that connects the indoors and outdoors and increases the amount of light and air. The floors are stacked on an inward trajectory that allows for ample outdoor terraces on the facade and an inner courtyard filled with cantilevered apartments.
Photo: Scott Frances.
A private rooftop lounge, designed by Venus Williams, provides views of Nationals Park. Terraces on the penthouse also provide direct sight lines to the ballpark. Because the project is highly visible from the stadium, the goal was to encourage richer, deeper, and more unified experiences for residents, tourists, and stadium-goers alike.
Photo: Scott Frances.
West Half’s interiors are defined by gently angled elements, minimalistic details, and a few tectonic finishes. The building’s indoor-outdoor connection is bolstered by interior elements such as the large indoor gym, which is exposed to the elements through an adjacent inner courtyard and the landscaped rooftop pool and resident lounge.
Sustainable strategies include cisterns that harvest water for the building’s irrigation and extensive green roofs that occupy 50% of the total roof area. The building has been LEED Gold certified. JBG Smith developed the project.
Photo: Pavel Bendov.
Photo: Scott Frances.
Related Stories
Curtain Wall | Aug 15, 2024
7 steps to investigating curtain wall leaks
It is common for significant curtain wall leakage to involve multiple variables. Therefore, a comprehensive multi-faceted investigation is required to determine the origin of leakage, according to building enclosure consultants Richard Aeck and John A. Rudisill with Rimkus.
Adaptive Reuse | Aug 14, 2024
Adaptive reuse revives a former warehouse in St. Louis
The Victor, as the building is now called, has nearly 400 residential apartments.
MFPRO+ News | Aug 14, 2024
Report outlines how Atlanta can collaborate with private sector to spur more housing construction
A report by an Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services panel, commissioned by the city’s housing authority, Atlanta Housing (AH), offered ways the city could collaborate with developers to spur more housing construction.
MFPRO+ Research | Aug 9, 2024
Apartment completions to surpass 500,000 for first time ever
While the U.S. continues to maintain a steady pace of delivering new apartments, this year will be one for the record books.
MFPRO+ Research | Aug 6, 2024
Matrix multifamily report for July shows ‘hopeful signs’
The multifamily market is showing strength in many ways, according to the July 2024 Matrix Multifamily National Report by Yardi Matrix.
MFPRO+ News | Aug 1, 2024
Canada tries massive incentive program to spur new multifamily housing construction
Canada has taken the unprecedented step of offering billions in infrastructure funds to communities in return for eliminating single-family housing zoning.
Student Housing | Jul 31, 2024
The University of Michigan addresses a decades-long student housing shortage with a new housing-dining facility
The University of Michigan has faced a decades-long shortage of on-campus student housing. In a couple of years, the situation should significantly improve with the addition of a new residential community on Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan has engaged American Campus Communities in a public-private partnership to lead the development of the environmentally sustainable living-learning student community.
MFPRO+ New Projects | Jul 31, 2024
Shipping containers converted into attractive, affordable multifamily housing in L.A.
In the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, a new affordable multifamily housing project using shipping containers resulted in 24 micro-units for formerly unhoused residents. The containers were acquired from a nearby port and converted into housing units at a factory.
Smart Buildings | Jul 25, 2024
A Swiss startup devises an intelligent photovoltaic façade that tracks and moves with the sun
Zurich Soft Robotics says Solskin can reduce building energy consumption by up to 80% while producing up to 40% more electricity than comparable façade systems.
Great Solutions | Jul 23, 2024
41 Great Solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
AI ChatBots, ambient computing, floating MRIs, low-carbon cement, sunshine on demand, next-generation top-down construction. These and 35 other innovations make up our 2024 Great Solutions Report, which highlights fresh ideas and innovations from leading architecture, engineering, and construction firms.
