Morris Adjmi Architects

Located at 2112 8th Street on the site formerly occupied by the Atlantic Plumbing Supply Company, this 11-story rental building is the first of four completed structures designed by MA in what is now referred to as “Atlantic Plumbing”, a four-building development within Washington, D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood.

The new building is essentially a glass box set within a Cor-Ten steel structural exoskeleton. The weathered, rust-colored cross-bracing—an industrial form that can be seen along the railroad tracks leading into the nation’s capital—gives the building a strong graphic identity and allows for open, loft-style apartments. In addition, it creates space to integrate landscaping: private garden plots, climbing vines, and planted terraces soften the building’s industrial character and recall the overgrown warehouses that once stood on the site.

The steel-encased glass volume rests on a gray brick base reminiscent of the warehouses that can still be found throughout the area. Instead of loading docks, the building incorporates large glass garage doors that lead to highly visible restaurants, a theater, and subsidized art studios that are regularly opened to the public and designed to overflow onto the sidewalks to increase pedestrian activity. A communal rooftop offers all tenants fully equipped kitchen and lounge spaces, outdoor entertainment areas, a swimming pool, and an outdoor screening area.