Arlington, Virginia
20-story tower
327,000 sq. ft. /30,380 sq. m.
NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association “Award Of Excellence” in the “Best Building – Adaptive Reuse” category
Before and after the renovation
220 20th Street is a new 20-story landmark apartment tower that plays a key role in the repositioning of Arlington County’s Crystal City neighborhood.
This project involved the partial demolition and adaptive re-use of a vacant 1970s office building that no longer met the criteria for “Class A space” due to its construction type, small floor plates and low floor-to-floor heights. None of these factors represented a problem for a residential building, however, and the lower residential floor loads allowed for the addition of six new floors and a rooftop pool deck to the existing structure. Most apartments feature inset balconies and media rooms that make good use of the deeper-than-average floor plates.
The original pre-cast concrete and brown-tinted glass facade was removed and replaced with a lighter, all-glass facade designed to establish a new architectural standard for Crystal City and live up to the promise of its name. Unlike most residential apartment buildings in this market, each unit has full-width floor-to-ceiling glass in all perimeter areas to maximize daylight and views. The articulated, high-performance glass curtainwall provide solar shading, improve energy efficiency and limit sound transmission from the nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport. The upper floors of the building feature larger penthouse units and rooftop amenities, including a fitness center, swimming pool, viewing terrace and outdoor kitchen. Residents can enjoy stunning views of the Potomac River, the National Mall, the Washington, DC, skyline and beyond.
The building capitalizes on a unique opportunity to re-orient the Crystal City streetscape toward a traditionally urban, pedestrian-friendly environment with animated storefronts and high-quality landscaping and street furniture. Although the building is still connected to the Metro system and the Underground Mall below grade, it has street-front retail and a new two-story entry lobby at street level with a sweeping curved staircase leading to the club room and Internet cafe.
The smoke-free building will be LEED certified. It includes interior materials and energy-saving fixtures and appliances that allow tenants to choose a more sustainable urban lifestyle. The project takes advantage of Arlington County’s groundbreaking green development programs, which offer developers additional height and density in exchange for providing affordable housing and environmentally sustainable design features in the new construction.
