Collaborating with Hartman-Cox Architects, CORE restores and transforms a historic apartment building on Massachusetts Avenue into the new headquarters of the American Enterprise Institute. The modified building provides the American Enterprise Institute with state of the art facilities and office space including a servery and broadcast studio that support its public policy leadership and scholarly work. 1789 Massachusetts Avenue, NW is a rare example of a private building with preservation easements on both the exterior and the interior. The biggest challenge was the historic interior along Massachusetts Avenue and 18th Street that needed a new office design that would not impact the original ceiling, walls or floors. CORE created tailored workspace “islands” that float within the grand Beaux-Arts style rooms which were originally designed in 1915 as luxury apartments. CORE placed these freestanding millwork work areas in each room to maintain an overall openness and transparency. Since CORE could not touch the ceilings or walls, they built task and ambient lighting into each office solution to illuminate the work area and room overall. The severy is a warm, glowing millwork “jewelry box” with its meticulously concealed food service equipment, illuminated marble countertops, and backsplashes highlighting the cuisine of the day. The broadcast studio facility is designed for both video and audio production and broadcast and features a retractable full-size video wall serving both the auditorium above and the video production studio below. CORE dug into the cultural DNA of the American Enterprise Institute, determined how its scholars work best, and designed every detail to ensure longevity and a classic timelessness. The design scheme was so personal to the American Enterprise Institute that it almost felt like designing a custom home.
Client: The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Design Team: Guy Martin, Ron Ngiam, Kristin Carleton, Daniel Kalinowski
Base Building Architect: Hartman-Cox Architects
Interior Designer: Brayton Hughes Design Studio
General Contractor: Grunley Construction Company, Inc.
Photography: © Michael Moran, Ron Ngiam
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