By Catarina Ferreira, AIA
Condo conversions are happening throughout Washington DC at an extraordinary speed. Everywhere you turn it seems single-family row houses are suddenly becoming 5,7, 10-unit buildings overnight. Many of these smaller scale multi-unit buildings throughout our city end up being pretty much the same: a box with a bay window on one side (levering projections into public space, of course), and perhaps a penthouse, unless that triggers hefty payments to the Housing Development Fund, in which case we get a dumb box sticking up on one side, providing roof deck access (a must have). And guess what, the apartments sell, the developers make their money, life goes on. However, this is not architecture, it is production. it is unfortunate, given that this project scale holds the opportunity for so much inventiveness.
Given their unique position in-between scales, every design decision must be carefully considered, as it can either trigger the additional code requirements of larger buildings or avoid them altogether. It is in leveraging that hidden dimension in between building scales that an investor’s ROI is truly maximized. Pushing the limits on building size, number of dwelling units, and efficiency are obvious strategies for doing so, inventiveness, design quality, and quality of space not so much. When the focus is on profits at all costs, the outcome is never pretty, regardless of what industry we are talking about.
Many of our multi-unit residential projects hover in that scale between 3/4 story row house and 4/5 story mid-rise buildings. Ranging from 2 to 10 dwelling units, many are literally on the edge in terms of egress/access code, as well as zoning constraints. In a nutshell, most have all of the requirements of much larger buildings, but none of the repetition. Each is a 3-d puzzle waiting to be solved. I call them ‘in-between projects.’ They are a though nut to crack, but a satisfying one. Often the best solution lies in a blurry line hidden between meeting the project brief and pushing the zoning/code constraints to their limit, both to maximize the building size and number of units or their quality, often both.
Let’s look at our Sherman II project, currently under construction as a test case.
In this project, the intent was to maintain the majority of the building facade, one of two identical facades side by side. Both buildings were once owned by Charles Drew, an African-American pioneer in the development of the technology behind blood transfusions. Find out more about Dr. Dew here. We wanted to keep the majority of the facade in place instead of erasing its history. Keeping a facade, adding to it, and ending up with something other than a Frankenstein of a building is pretty hard to do.
This is a 3-unit project, but generously sized 3-bedroom apartments. There were no tough constraints here at first glance. We could have accommodated the 3 dwelling units within what was previously a 2-story building, with perhaps a rear addition. Done, cheaper to build, and the units would probably sell. Facade could have been 100% maintained, as was done next door. Done.
Why bother? Needless to say, we took the project the project in a different direction.
In this case, maximizing the number of units was not the goal, due to Zoning constraints. Providing large, quality units was the goal. By pushing against the limits of allowable building height at the rear, while keeping it 1/2 story of so lower at the front, allowing the existing facade to breathe and helping to maintain the scale of the block of two semi-detached buildings. In doing so, we helped the developer create a larger building, with more sell-able sq ft, and all the units created are 3 bedrooms. Creating family-sized units was a crucial aspect of the project, as it is located in a 2-unit max. Zoning District, and BZA relief was required in order to construct 3 dwellings. The abnormally large lot size opened the door for this possibility.
In addition to getting larger units, our stepping the building height towards the back also allowed for the creation of a 1.5 story living room at the top unit, and roof deck towards the front (a must have). Finding a way to get up to that roof deck while meeting zoning constraints was a project onto itself…
Now nearing the end of construction, the project is coming together, and one can start to see what is to come. The bonus 1/2 story we created, with its access to the roof deck and the perch over the spacious living room below, is a real plus. Every morning, whoever lives here, will walk-out of their bedrooms and walk towards this, as the sun rises, then descend to the spacious living room level overlooking Sherman Ave NW.
Occupying the upper story while walking towards the roof deck, the sensation is one of being suspended in space, in an in-between dimension no one knew existed.