1401 New York Avenue, NW

The exterior renovation of the existing 1980s brick and glass 1401 New York Avenue office building involved the reconstruction of the entire building’s façade and the modernization, renovation and the reconfiguration of first level retail and lobby with a new design. Unlike typical façade renovations, this transformation was completed while the building was fully occupied. Even with most of the construction being conducted during the workday, tenant disruption was avoided through the design and application of a lightweight limestone and aluminum skin over the existing 30,000 square foot brick façade.

The lightweight stone cladding was added over all exterior masonry brick masonry surfaces, as well as stone column cladding at the street level. Tubular forms, made up of alternating large double-tubes at the column lines and smaller triple-tubes on the mullions, were added out of wind load concerns.

This solution allowed for the vast majority of the existing masonry to remain in place, and resulted in little, if any, tenant disruption.

Windows were replaced on the main building façade, as well as the retail store front door and the curtainwall system at building entrance at the street level. New sidewalk paving, new exterior soffit and arcade ceiling finishes, new exterior lighting on façade and arcade and a new canopy were also added.

Limitations on the bearing capacity of the existing masonry substrate required additions to the structure to be light-weight in nature. For this reason, the new stone panels are composed of thin stone, veneer bonded, and reinforced with an aluminum honeycomb substrate, and are applied to the existing masonry with a light-gauge metal framework.