2002

Constructing a Framework for the Future

University Plans Wisely for New Buildings, Existing Resources

By Thom Kohout

If you take a short walk on GW’s campus, along Pennsylvania Avenue to the north, F Street to the south, 19th and 24th streets to the east and west respectively, even the least observant person will notice that GW is in the midst of a great deal of capital development. In the past year, two of the University’s largest ventures in 20 years (the Media and Public Affairs Building and the Health and Wellness Center) opened their doors to the public, and several other projects are close on the horizon. What many people may not recognize is the measured and targeted approach the University takes toward growth and development and how each project is selected to best meet the needs of the student and academic communities.

The University’s plan is to provide a strong framework that guides the physical maturing of the Foggy Bottom campus during the next 10 years in terms of land use, open space, density of development, traffic and pedestrian circulation systems, and connections with the surrounding community. The plan also proposes the University maintain its strategy of establishing a campus feel by relocating schools and programs into single buildings or building clusters to create a unified central campus core.

“Bricks and mortar are really a metaphor for what goes on inside the building,” says President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, adding the goal of each project is to enhance the academic experience. “I think we have, in the last 10 years or so, moved up in terms of aggressiveness of the faculty with their scholarly output, their standing in their respective disciplines.”

“Our decisions to build are driven first by need,” explains Vice President and Treasurer Louis Katz. “Second it’s driven by our funding. The two have to match. If we don’t have a need, we’re not just going to build something just because we have funding.”

Beacuase the University has a limited amount of space to work with, says Roger Lyons, executive director of facilities, GW has to be very careful with how it manages this limited resources.

“Whenever the University builds something,” says Lyons, “we have to give a lot of thought to how well it responds not only to current needs, but also whether it has the flexibility to meet the potentially differing needs over the decades or generations.”

Chief among the University’s current needs is campus housing. DC’s Board of Zoning Adjustment has tough requirements on the amount of on-campus development pending the addition of undergraduate housing. To help meet those requirements, GW filed applications with the DC Zoning Commission for two new residence hall projects. Hearings for the projects are scheduled for Dec. 6.

“We’re trying to think through a swift and dramatic affirmative response to the community desire that we house additional students in University facilities,” Trachtenberg says.

The larger of the two projects is a 700-plus bed facility to be constructed on square 43, bounded by 23rd and 24th Streets, G Street, and Virginia Avenue across from the Health and Wellness Center.

“We are targeting a facility with 700-plus beds and two levels of parking underneath containing 88 spaces,” says Lyons. “It will have three retail venues and a Provisions Market on the lower level.”

The striking facade of the 10-story building features a substantial amount of precast concrete elements on the 23rd Street side. Because the building serves as the first sign of campus seen by pedestrians and traffic traveling north up 23rd Street, special attention was taken to develop an attractive element to herald the entrance to the University.

“President Trachtenberg was very interested in using the Virginia Avenue/23rd Street facade as an opportunity to announce the entrance onto the campus,” explains Michelle Honey, director of architecture, engineering, and construction. “So we’re looking at using panels with the GW medallion very much like what we used in the Health and Wellness Center.”

Across 23rd Street from the proposed square 43 building is an eight townhouse project to be built on a parking lot behind the Smith Center, known as square 57. The site will hold 204 beds.

“The new thing now is what’s called ‘Affinity Housing,’” says Michael Peller, managing director for business services, referring to the University’s plan for the row houses. “It refers to any kind of special group, from a fraternity to an honors project. The University’s goal is to provide housing that will attract special groups.”

The houses will be set up very much like traditional townhouses with the ground floor housing the kitchen, living room, and dining room; the lower level will have a rec room and laundry facilities; and the upper three floors each will hold a pair of two bedroom suites with shared bathrooms accommodating a total of eight students. A unique element will be four shared elevators between every other unit making the four-story structures fully ADA compliant.

The University can expect just under 200 beds as part of the Elliott School of International Affairs’ new seven-story building under construction at the corner of E and 19th Streets. The building will also contain additional classrooms, facilities for executive education programs, and retail dining services. This project is currently under review by the Zoning Commission and would be formally added to the campus if approved.

“We need to reach a certain number of undergraduates housed on campus,” says Peller about the recent residence hall projects. “We’ve expanded our bed count somewhat dramatically. Between 1957 E St., and the square 43 and 57 buildings, we’re adding close to 1,200 beds over the next several years.”

Peller explains that in addition to the new construction, the University has engaged many efforts to maximize the bed count, such as increasing capacity in the Hall on Virginia Avenue by converting some of the double rooms into triples, as well as leasing space at City Hall and Pennsylvania House.

Also in the planning and permitting stage is a new building for the School of Business and Public Management and renovations to Funger Hall. The new building will include parking spaces below grade, a large auditorium, seven tiered classrooms, a Capital Markets Lab, flat classrooms, and labs. The Zoning Commission is expected to hear the University’s petition for a building permit Dec. 13.

“What we’re trying to do is link the buildings and use the rhythm of Funger, not necessarily the same material or texture but at least the same color, to continue on through the facade of the building,” says Honey. “The entrance to the building will have a bold new, business look.”

“If you look at the building from the side,” adds Lyons, “it has an element that becomes almost a lighthouse or a lantern if you are coming north on 22nd Street. While it doesn’t announce the edge of campus like the residence hall on square 43, it does offer an impressive visual image.”

The architecture is designed to remind visitors that this represents the professional aspect of the campus opposite the Law School to the east. The two are connected by the Mid-Campus Quad, creating a strong spine for the campus.

• Adding a Great Hall
The Marvin Center construction project will be finished and ready for operation this spring, completing more than two years worth of additions and renovations to the five-story, 348,000-square-foot structure. The original concept of the project encompassed two goals — providing improved handicapped access while establishing a more graceful entrance along 21st Street.

Says Lyons of the impending completion, “It transforms a building that was very difficult for a disabled person to access, to one where virtually every feature will be accessible to everyone.”
Initial renovations to the facility completed prior to the 2000 academic year added a post office, an expanded computer lab, new facilities for the radio station, additional food venues, and a copying and business center on the lower level.

The ongoing construction will add a 20,000-square-foot, three-level addition that will provide the bookstore with street-level access and visibility. The addition involves changes to the ground floor, first floor, and third floor. On the ground floor there will be a new sales area for the bookstore as well as construction of a grand interior space — The Great Hall. Featured in the hall will be President Trachtenberg’s column — a Corinthian column with elaborate hand-painting, lighted from above — and a wall to display the plaques for the University’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recipients. Directly above the Great Hall will be a new ballroom accessed from the third floor.

• Hopes for the Old Hospital
A question on the minds of many in the University community is the fate of the old hospital. The replacement facility is targeted for completion in summer 2002. Once that building goes online, all eyes will turn to the original building. The site could potentially house in excess of one million square feet, accommodating many needs including commercial, residential, student, and academic.

“In the best of all possible worlds it would be quite splendid to have something that had some commercial space, some retail, some residential, some academic, and some student housing,” says Trachtenberg of the future of the hospital site. “How much and what mix it might have will depend on ultimately how many square feet we can develop and that’s probably going to take imaginative architects working with a team of University developers to try and come up with something.”

Katz adds, “We’ve got preliminary analysis about the size of what can be built on that site, but it’s going to be subject to zoning, it’s going to be subject to need, and it’s going to be subject to working with an outside developer. We’re looking at various scenarios, but no decisions have been made at this juncture.”

• Making the Campus More Amenable
With the cooperation of the District and the community, GW has enhanced the landscaping of the campus and its surrounding area. Groundskeepers have gone to great lengths to create tranquil spots for the campus and the neighboring community to reflect and take in the beauty of this urban environment.

“I think, frankly, the place is prettier. I think it’s a more attractive campus. We’ve paid more attention to amenities and I think it’s helped,” says Trachtenberg.

Throughout the campus visitors find weeping cherry trees, fragrant wisteria, colorful perennials and annuals, and the rose garden with more than 850 varieties of roses. The University plans to continue the current approach of strengthening, expanding, and linking existing open spaces through a series of walkways and mid-block pedestrian street crossings to enhance pedestrian safety on campus.

“The president’s idea with any facility plan is to build a sense of community and a unique identity,” says Katz. “Part of that comes from people walking through this campus and knowing they’re on The George Washington University campus. I traveled to Washington many times before I came to GW. And many times I walked on this campus without even knowing it — there was nothing wrong with the campus — it was safe and everything else — but it was basically a confederation of buildings. There was no central theme to it, there weren’t things that designated the campus, that gave it a campus feel. Everything we try to do in our facilities plan is to help build a better sense of community. We’re obviously interested in the functionality in what we build, but we’re also building a sense of community.”

 

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