Notes of Interest
The U.S. Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. is one of the most significant and sensitive places in our country. Within it, the U.S. House of Representatives is its largest component. The House Office Buildings Plan and South Capitol Area Plan defines a vision for fulfilling the current and future space and functional needs of the House, serves as the basis for organizing, budgeting, and funding its long-range capital improvements, and establishes an interface with the future re-development of the South Capitol District from the U.S. Capitol Complex to the Anacostia River.
The project area comprises the 177-acre South Capitol District, and focuses on land within it that is part of the U.S. Capitol Complex, containing some 2.56 million square feet and 5,772 parking spaces assigned to the House, whose needs were projected to grow for 2025 to 3.16 million square feet and 7,283 spaces. The goals, as outlined by Congress, included accommodating growth, improving security, improving transit links, preserving historic assets, upgrading open spaces, complementing new urban development south of the Complex, and developing an overall sustainability framework for the district. The plan also looks beyond 2025 to 2050, to the vision of the National Capitol Planning Commission’s Legacy Plan, anticipating the removal of a railroad viaduct and the I -295/395 superstructure. The extension of the Canal Park would complete the integration of the South Capitol District with the U.S. Capitol Complex, to finally heal a scarred urban fabric.
Architect
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Wallace Roberts & Todd
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Owner
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Architect of the Capitol
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Location
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Washington, D.C.
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ADDITIONAL CREDITS
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Consultant
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Carter Goble Associates, Inc.
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
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Engineer
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Louis Berger Group, Inc.
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Landscape Architect
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Wallace Roberts & Todd
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Photo Credit
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© Wallace Roberts & Todd
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JURY COMMENTS
Involving some of the nation’s
most security-conscious and
historically sensitive areas, this
20-year plan for 177 acres south
of the U.S. Capitol, which
accommodate the office and
ancillary needs of the House of
Representatives, addresses
beautifully many very complex
programmatic needs. From the
three adjacent House office
buildings south to the Anacostia
River, this plan pays a great deal
of respect to the original L’Enfant
plan, shifts space use to maximize
adjacency priorities, and pays
considerable attention to facility
restoration and the incorporation
of sustainable-design elements
such as runoff control. Among the
many laudable suggestions for
congressional connection in the
limited footprint adjacent to the
Capitol is the retrofitting of
courtyards to useable office space,
(which) in itself is a sustainable
social and ecologically sensitive
solution.
2010 INSTITUTE HONOR AWARDS FOR REGIONAL AND URBAN DESIGN JURY
John F. Torti, FAIA (Chair)
Torti Gallas & Partners, Inc.
Silver Spring, Maryland
Lance Jay Brown, FAIA
Lance Jay Brown Architecture & Urban Design
New York City
Brenda Scheer, AIA
University of Utah
College of Architecture + Planning
Salt Lake City
Edward K. Uhlir, FAIA
Uhlir Consulting, LLC
Chicago
Debby Wieneke
Habitat for Humanity of Benton County, Inc.
Bentonville, Arkansas
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