1111 Pennsylvania Avenue
Encyclopedia
1111 Pennsylvania Avenue is a high-rise Postmodern
skyscraper
located in Washington, D.C.
, in the United States
. It is 180 feet (54.9 m) tall, has 14 stories
, and has a four-story underground parking garage. It is a "contributing" resource to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
.
. This structure was razed and in 1847 the four-story Fuller Hotel opened. Renamed the Kirkwood House, it was the residence of Vice President
Andrew Johnson
; he took the oath of office of the President of the United States there in April 1865 after the assassination of President
Abraham Lincoln
. Kirkwood House was razed in 1875 and replaced with the Shepherd Centennial Building, a seven-story office building in the Second Empire style (it opened in 1876). The Shepherd Centennial Building was converted into a hotel in 1893 by architect Leon E. Dessez and renamed the Raleigh Hotel. The Raleigh Hotel was razed in 1911 and rebuilt by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh
as a 13-story Beaux Arts hotel with a rusticated
brick
, white limestone
, and terra cotta
exterior. Congress changed the height limit for buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue NW from 130 feet (39.6 m) to 160 feet (48.8 m) in 1910 in order to accommodate the Raleigh Hotel.
zoning officials gave him permission to cantilever the building over the sidewalk on 12th Street at a height about 30 feet (9.1 m) above the street. Named the Presidential Building (or the Presidential Office Building), the structure was designed by Edmund W. Dreyfuss & Associates in the Brutalist
style. Dreyfuss worked closely on the building with John Woodbridge, a staff architect for the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue and a member of the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
. The President's Council chairman was Nathaniel A. Owings
, a partner in that firm. The building was completed in mid-1968, and originally had 253000 square feet (23,504.5 m²) of interior space. Its address at this time was 415 12th Street NW. The District of Columbia Public Schools
leased seven of the floors in the building, with other District government offices renting the remaining space.
style more in tune with the nearby Evening Star building addition next to it on Pennsylvania Avenue, and two stories were added. The total interior space increased from 253000 square feet (23,504.5 m²) to 334000 square feet (31,029.6 m²). The front entrance was moved from 12th Street NW to Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and the address changed to 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The architect of record for the structural renovations was Shalom Baranes Associates. Studios Architecture designed the interiors.
An 8 feet (2.4 m) existed between the renovated structure and the Evening Star building addition to the east. In order to create natural light in the office windows facing the Evening Star building, Studios Architecture built a light pipe
—a 120 feet (36.6 m), 6.5 feet (2 m), 5 short tons (4.5 LT) prism designed to convey natural sunlight down to all floors and into all offices. On cloudy days and at night, the light pipe is artificially illuminated with a rainbow of colors.
The law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius leased the entire building for 15 years (the lease expires in 2017).
Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
located in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is 180 feet (54.9 m) tall, has 14 stories
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
, and has a four-story underground parking garage. It is a "contributing" resource to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the city of Washington, D.C. Established on September 30, 1965, the site is roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW...
.
History of the site
The site, on the northeast corner of 12th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, was originally occupied by the Fountain Inn, erected in 1815 after the burning of WashingtonBurning of Washington
The Burning of Washington was an armed conflict during the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America. On August 24, 1814, led by General Robert Ross, a British force occupied Washington, D.C. and set fire to many public buildings following...
. This structure was razed and in 1847 the four-story Fuller Hotel opened. Renamed the Kirkwood House, it was the residence of Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
; he took the oath of office of the President of the United States there in April 1865 after the assassination of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. Kirkwood House was razed in 1875 and replaced with the Shepherd Centennial Building, a seven-story office building in the Second Empire style (it opened in 1876). The Shepherd Centennial Building was converted into a hotel in 1893 by architect Leon E. Dessez and renamed the Raleigh Hotel. The Raleigh Hotel was razed in 1911 and rebuilt by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings.-Life and career:...
as a 13-story Beaux Arts hotel with a rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
, white limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, and terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
exterior. Congress changed the height limit for buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue NW from 130 feet (39.6 m) to 160 feet (48.8 m) in 1910 in order to accommodate the Raleigh Hotel.
Current structure
The Raleigh Hotel closed in 1954, and by 1965 developer Jerry Wolman had purchased the site and proposed building the current structure. It was one of the first structures built under the Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment plan approved in 1964, and the first private building to be built. Because of restrictions imposed by the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site legislation, Wolman agreed to move the building line back from Pennsylvania Avenue by 50 feet (15.2 m) and keep the building's height to 135 feet (41.1 m), although in exchange for the loss of interior square footage District of ColumbiaWashington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
zoning officials gave him permission to cantilever the building over the sidewalk on 12th Street at a height about 30 feet (9.1 m) above the street. Named the Presidential Building (or the Presidential Office Building), the structure was designed by Edmund W. Dreyfuss & Associates in the Brutalist
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
style. Dreyfuss worked closely on the building with John Woodbridge, a staff architect for the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue and a member of the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
. The President's Council chairman was Nathaniel A. Owings
Nathaniel A. Owings
Nathaniel Alexander Owings was an American architect, a founding partner of Skidmore Owings and Merrill , which became one of the largest architectural firms in the United States and the world. Owings viewed skyscrapers as his firm's specialty...
, a partner in that firm. The building was completed in mid-1968, and originally had 253000 square feet (23,504.5 m²) of interior space. Its address at this time was 415 12th Street NW. The District of Columbia Public Schools
District of Columbia Public Schools
District of Columbia Public Schools is the traditional public school system of Washington, D.C. in the United States.- Composition and enrollment :...
leased seven of the floors in the building, with other District government offices renting the remaining space.
2002 renovation
Purchased by local surgeon Laszlo Tauber, one of the richest men in the D.C. area, the structure underwent a $40 million renovation between 2000 and 2002. It was the last private building on Pennsylvania Avenue to be renovated under the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation's 1974 redevelopment plan. The facade was replaced with a PostmodernPostmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
style more in tune with the nearby Evening Star building addition next to it on Pennsylvania Avenue, and two stories were added. The total interior space increased from 253000 square feet (23,504.5 m²) to 334000 square feet (31,029.6 m²). The front entrance was moved from 12th Street NW to Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and the address changed to 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The architect of record for the structural renovations was Shalom Baranes Associates. Studios Architecture designed the interiors.
An 8 feet (2.4 m) existed between the renovated structure and the Evening Star building addition to the east. In order to create natural light in the office windows facing the Evening Star building, Studios Architecture built a light pipe
Light tube
Light tubes or light pipes are used for transporting or distributing natural or artificial light. In their application to daylighting, they are also often called sun pipes, sun scopes, solar light pipes, sky lights or daylight pipes.Generally speaking, a light pipe or light tube may refer to:* a...
—a 120 feet (36.6 m), 6.5 feet (2 m), 5 short tons (4.5 LT) prism designed to convey natural sunlight down to all floors and into all offices. On cloudy days and at night, the light pipe is artificially illuminated with a rainbow of colors.
The law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius leased the entire building for 15 years (the lease expires in 2017).