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St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (est. 1961) is located on a six-acre wooded lot in historic Arlington, Virginia. This 1963 structure was originally envisioned as the first step in a multi-phased construction and expansion plan. The structure consisted only of a nave, narthex, kitchen, and several offices and classrooms. The facility was expanded in 1977 to accommodate a growing religious community. Yet as the congregation expanded, church leadership realized that the original plan was impeding their vision for the Church’s growth. To this end, they sought assistance in identifying specific programming needs and conceptual design alternatives for improvement of their buildings and grounds to create a parish with “welcoming and inspiring spaces for both now and future families worship in a community of inclusion, aspiring to tell and exemplify God's love for every human being.”
CGS Architects built on the Church’s simple physical beauty tied to developing a renovation and addition that focused on the congregation’s numerous programmatic priorities: expanded Narthex space, improved Sunday School facilities, addition of a Parish Hall, administrative updates, musical facility improvements, and universal accessibility throughout. The design features a reconfigured front entrance oriented toward site arrival with an iconic Church steeple, sheltering loggia, and clearly identifiable front door. Inside, a light filled Narthex stretches between the existing Nave and new fellowship hall to create ample space for social events with multiple venues for adult education and formal gatherings. A contemplative Chapel is located at the rear of the existing Nave and configured to allow expanded worship capacity when required. The highly collaborative effort was supported by an active and inspired congregation to ensure that the new plan reflects the spirit, the culture, and the aspirations, of this welcoming parish community.
The Old Presbyterian Meeting House, one of the oldest congregations in the city of Alexandria, Virginia acquired the adjacent historic Elliot House property as a bequest from former church members. The ca. 1844 Greek Revival residence is significant within Alexandria Virginia’s Old and Historic District both for both the age and quality of its architecture and as a former residence for several prominent community members. The gable roofed house is distinguished by subtle details including painted, beaded wood shiplap siding, molded brick water table coursing, decorative door and window surrounds and wrought iron railings. Functionally incorporating the house property into the Church grounds required conformance with the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review mandates to preserve this unique piece of Alexandria’s residential architectural heritage while meeting the pressing program needs of an active, urban church.
In order to follow the city’s strict requirements to maintain the open corner space of the property, CGS Architects proposed that new construction be placed below grade and to the rear of the original structure, causing much of the new project to not be readily discernable. Two non-original structures were removed and the restored historic house was returned to its original street presence within a walled, landscaped garden setting that maintains an open street corner. The south garden forms a welcoming outdoor terrace for receptions and social functions while acting as a garden roof for the skylit, underground meeting hall space. To the north of the house, a new landscaped connection to the Old Meeting House grounds is made through a portal in the old brick garden wall separating the two properties and allowing direct access to the administrative offices and meeting rooms from the church. A new two-story rear addition contains the primary support and core elements including an elevator, fire stair, bathrooms, and mechanical spaces, that allow the original floor plan of the historic house to be restored. The new addition makes quiet references to the rooflines, windows, and materials of the original house and connects it to the underground meeting hall. The open rear porch of the house and the first-floor interior parlors are used as restored period reception rooms complimenting activities in the Church worship space.
The Department of Labor’s Potomac Job Corps Center provides on-the-job training in a variety of programs. Their mission is to educate and train highly motivated young people with the skills needed to become employable and independent. The existing campus was disorganized and required extensive renovations and modernizations to fit their growing program. Existing structures included several multi-story brick buildings, a small recreation facility with pool, and several dormitories. CGS Architects was commissioned to develop a comprehensive campus Mater Plan and subsequently execute the design of their initial four project phases.
To bring order to the campus, CGS Architects created the Central Quad with a new campus-wide axial path connecting north and south program buildings. Buried below this common green space on the northern side, a field of geothermal wells smartly provide constant 55° water to its high performing mechanical systems year-round, hidden from view, but appreciably reducing the Job Corps annual operating costs. Along the south edge of the Central Quad, the Cafeteria and Recreation Center (Phase 1) includes substantial site and utility improvements. The new 17,000 SF Recreation Center houses common rooms, exercise studios, weight rooms, arts & crafts studios, a TV / movie hall, multipurpose rooms, a canteen, and full showers and lockers. The existing pool was renovated, and outdoor playing fields and a gymnasium were added. The 18,000 SF, 350-Seat Cafeteria and Culinary Arts Building were designed with the main dining room facing the Central Quad and service to the back. These new structures provide a natural hub for students and staff alike. With thoughtfully applied glazing around the perimeter, the warm glow they emit in the evening further reinforces the welcoming nature of these facilities, encouraging gathering and fellowship, and complementing their more formal programmed uses: dining, recreation, and instruction. Subsequently, CGS Architects designed two new residence halls (272 beds total) located on the eastern edge of the campus. The two dorms were conceived as counterpart buildings mirroring one another while framing the Central Quad. Each building features a simple palette of materials, a soaring roof announces the entry way and common areas with sun-filled, double-height volume marking the center of activity. The signature “butterfly” metal roof collects rainwater, diverting it into common planters. These two buildings serve as an economical solution to housing a large and active community in an open, convenient, and comfortable, but also secure environment, allowing students to focus on their education and training.
The Ridge Road Community Center replaces a dilapidated facility dating to the 1950’s with a new neighborhood center providing critical health and wellness programs to the underserved population of Washington, DC’s Ward 7. Several acres of land with athletic fields, an outdoor public pool, basketball courts, a wooded nature area, and two small buildings previously served the recreational needs of hundreds of users. However well loved, portions of these facilities were out-of-date and required immediate improvement and replacement. In 2012, the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of General Services initiated efforts to bring a new LEED certified facility and extend a welcoming hand to a broad cross-section of community stakeholders.
CGS Architects was commissioned to collaborate with District agencies and neighborhood stakeholders to design and administer construction on a new community recreation facility with extensive site redevelopment. Through active engagement and research of modern recreation facilities, CGS Architects refined the program of spaces to be accommodated within a new building serving both athletic and community functions for facility users. Specifically, a multi-purpose room for classes, meetings, and community functions; a full-size indoor basketball court with alternative striping and embeds for half-court practice play and volleyball; fitness rooms; and spaces tailored to serve teens and seniors were included. The Center has quickly become a valuable asset to its surrounding community, thriving as a hub of activity for youth, families, senior citizens, and civic organizations. It has had a stabilizing effect on the lives of neighborhood youth by providing safe and appropriately equipped spaces for physical activities that instill discipline, healthy exercise habits, and teamwork. Moreover, it has become an inclusive environment where after school programs provide a refuge for at-risk adolescents, ensuring they have a healthy outlet for their creativity and energy as an important step towards long-term neighborhood improvement.
George Washington University (GWU) and DC Public Schools (DCPS) joined in a unique public / private partnership to develop land through a joint development project. DCPS’ School Without Walls shares a common wall with the site that GWU was wanting to develop. Ultimately, the Agreement allowed for property re-zoning that gave the site more allowable square-footage. GWU was also seeking to increase their student housing offering but in an unusual apartment configuration, addressing current market demand with atypical units offering four bedrooms, open plan living, dining and kitchen, laundry and two full bathrooms. This arrangement allowed GWU to rent-out apartments to the community rather than use the urban site for students housing only.
As part of a joint venture, CGS Architects provided the architectural services for this new 10-story, 116-apartment undergraduate student residence hall. Building amenities include student lounge space, meeting and study rooms, a Community Director’s Suite, and outdoor activity area, in addition to approximately 178 below-grade parking spaces. The building planning and design are highly sensitive and responsive to the urban campus within the context of a multi-scaled institutional and residential neighborhood. The complex review process included significant and wide-reaching stakeholder outreach, yielding project support from DC Office of Planning, DC Department of Transportation, and many local residents.
The Catholic University of America’s on-campus bookstore was relocated, creating a two-story space to house a new student center. At the same time, a former CUA student had remembered a beloved pub on the campus and proposed that it should make a comeback. After consideration, CUA administrators agreed and moved to bring a restaurant and drinking establishment into the lower level with the Student Center above, fronting a pedestrian walkway. Pubs have been a common part of campus life for many universities and colleges until the drinking age was moved to 21. Recently, the trend is changing. Based on considerable experience with spaces that foster community and enhance social gathering, CGS Architects was asked to develop appropriate designs for these new spaces.
Convivum is Latin for bringing people and food/beverage together, a feast. This concept led the programming and design for the Student Center and Murphy’s Grill. Located in the west wing of the Pryzbyla University Center building, the student space includes two small study and lounge rooms, booths along the northern wall, informal seating areas throughout, and a new dedicated entrance which leads directly outdoors to an existing plaza. On the main level, the brick wall that separated the old bookstore and the plaza was removed and replaced with glass, making the space transparent and more open to the public walkway. The main level lounge includes an informal lounge area with a central gas fireplace and televisions. A new entrance from the existing plaza was added for convenient access to the lower companion space, Murphy’s Grill. CGS Architects worked closely with Murphy’s Grill to create an open and engaging space for students to study, play, and eat. A variety of informal seating clusters complement the loose tables and banquette seating, keeping the space flexible for various events. Drink rails round out guest accommodations along with a natural gas fireplace, televisions, and an integrated AV/It and lighting system for performances. Throughout Murphy’s, furnishing and upholstery provide a pop of color against the palette of understated neutral finishes and clean, contemporary detailing. These design motifs are repeated throughout the upper and lower levels to make the two spaces feel like one. The Student Center and Murphy’s Pub are little known gems of the CUA campus, open to anyone wanting a space for fellowship and learning over good food and drink.
Founded in 1789, Georgetown Preparatory School was the vision of John Carroll, the first bishop of Baltimore. The boarding and day school for boys in grades nine through twelve was originally part of the Georgetown University campus. In 1921, Georgetown Prep moved to its current location on 93-acres in North Bethesda, Maryland. In conjunction with a comprehensive campus Master Plan that created significant new physical education and athletic space, the School sought to re-purpose their existing gymnasium into a new Learning Commons with new and contiguous communal student space.
The new George Center is a unique, multi-function, academic building that adapts the 1950’s era former gymnasium into a dynamic campus hub and student gathering place. The building consists of two elements separated by a glass-roofed gallery: the completely reconfigured old gymnasium and a new and contemporary three level addition. The new program area is a strong counterpoint with a spacious, skylit atrium. Comfortable student lounges and a full-service café provide social space for students, allowing them to relax, socialize, eat, study, or attend classes all in the same building. Fronting the school’s academic quadrangle, the old gym building’s original basketball court floor was converted into a dramatic new, 9,250 SF library with a 25-foot-high reading room. The facility features 14,000 literary volumes, a computer research center, a smart classroom and conference room, private study rooms, faculty offices, and a tutoring suite. Below the reading room floor, 8 full-sized academic classrooms replace the original locker and shower rooms.
The Potomac School in McLean, VA is co-ed K-12 private school for over 1,000 students situated on a 90-acre campus within a natural setting that includes forest, streams, and fields. CGS Architects was commissioned to undertake a comprehensive campus master planning effort intended to become a resource for evaluating the needs for facility improvement and campus growth while providing a vehicle for matching construction opportunities with available funding. Implementation of the master plan began with the renovation of / addition to the Upper School, creating an environmentally sensitive 21st century education building that extends teaching spaces from the classroom to the outdoors. A new Lower School was the second phase of this plan, expressing the school’s mission to teach environmental stewardship beginning with their youngest students. The Intermediate School project was subsequently completed, becoming the sixth building facility that CGS Architects designed on the Potomac campus.
The Upper School project included the renovation of its existing building and the construction of two new wings, the East Building and the Tundra Building. A glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge spanning the width of a new exterior quadrangle connects the new construction. Central to the buildings - and to the students’ school day - is the ‘Crosswords’, a three-level social gathering space positioned between the new Tundra Building and the existing Upper School. In addition to greatly improved classrooms, the new complex includes a 125-seat tiered classroom, a black box theater, a library, a dining room with floor-to-ceiling glass, and balconies that open to expansive views of the campus. The Potomac School’s new Lower School was the second phase of their multi-phased expansion. The project takes advantage of bucolic rolling hills on the northwest side of the campus such that each classroom is directly connected to outdoor teaching areas in an intimate courtyard. In addition to thirteen classrooms, the Lower School Building includes separate science, art, music, and computer spaces. The Intermediate School project reflects the school’s mission to create an environmentally sensitive 21st century school that extends teaching spaces from the classroom to the outdoors.
The Intermediate School houses six classrooms, a new main office, three breakout areas for students, new bathrooms, and a two-story Commons. Two new outdoor learning spaces, including an amphitheater in the Pingree Garden and a second-floor deck, were also incorporated into the design. The school’s new two-story Commons, which opens onto the amphitheater, is the Intermediate school’s ‘Heart’ ; an important focal point of the design that is used for community meetings and student gatherings.
The ca. 1957 Flora Hendley Elementary School, located in the District of Columbia’s Ward 8, was sorely in need of facility modernization and upgrades to align their program with current DC Public Schools Educational Specifications criteria. To meet these needs, the project became part of an aggressive plan to modernize six DC elementary schools over a short summer recess.
A full renovation of the building’s entry, academic, administrative, and support spaces was needed. The existing structure was built with a concrete frame and had a four-story classroom wing with a one-story lobby and an adjacent two-story lunchroom / auditorium wing. In 1964, a two-story classroom wing, called the Annex, was built at the south side of the site and five years later a one-story kitchen addition was completed.
The entire demolition and renovation of the building occurred in only eight weeks of summer, an extremely aggressive schedule. As a result, everything needed to be designed, procured and ready to commence the hour school recessed for the summer. To this end, CGS Architects worked diligently with the Contractor to coordinate the successful execution plan.
The project focused on right-sizing academic spaces to align with current class size standards and needs. This also included replacing the entire HVAC system, creating new restrooms, all new finishes, and replacing deteriorating windows. The most significant, and most sorely needed change, was transformation of the school’s main entrance. Safety was of paramount importance to stakeholders at the school. Their original lobby was very closed-off, fortified and opaque, manifesting antiquated ideas of security. Through application of ‘Crime Prevention Through Design’ principals, the design solution created a safe space while maintaining a welcoming, transparent, open, and light-filled entrance expression of school pride and the joy of learning, playfulness and delight.
HD Woodson STEM High School is located in a predominately African American neighborhood rich in cultural history. Despite its proximity to the most powerful government in the world, the community has historically struggled with social and economic issues that afflict many underserved urban neighborhoods, including the highest rate of illiteracy among all the wards in the District of Columbia. The new HD Woodson STEM High School replaces an original seven-story educational tower that first opened on the site in 1972, affectionately referred to as the “Tower of Power.” The school served as a source of community pride for nearly 30 years but eventually, through lack of adequate funding and deferred maintenance, the tower that loomed over the neighborhood became an outsized symbol of the District of Columbia’s dysfunctional governance.
CGS architects led an initiative to replace the crumbling existing building with the first new ground-up high school STEM educational facility in the mid-Atlantic region. Designed around core principles of integrated learning, transparency and flexibility, the building redefines academic models for collaboration and project-based learning. In addition, the facility was designed to become a cultural center for neighborhood programs. Listening carefully to the broader community through an intensive engagement process, CGS defined a model for community amenities, including library spaces, recreation facilities and cultural arts venues that are separately accessed and operated beyond educational spaces and outside of the traditional academic day. The LEED Gold HD Woodson STEM High School has become a stimulus for improved learning outcomes and a fulcrum for the community. Previously lagging enrollment numbers soared in the school’s first years as disenfranchised families returned to this “learning machine”; a physical manifestation of the District of Columbia’s commitment to 21st century educational models and improved academic outcomes. Similarly, the community-centric design is a template for broadening the role of neighborhood schools by providing access to cultural and recreational facilities previously lacking, fostering connections and great neighborhood pride.