Cultural

Originally constructed in 1977, the Chancery at The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Northwest Washington, DC was in need of modernization.  The design team was tasked with improving the function, accessibility, and sustainability of the space using architectural and structural elements that evoke Norway’s rich history of shipbuilding and woodworking, while showcasing Norway’s natural resources, including wood and copper.  

The renovation features a garden room meeting and event space, a light-filled social hub, and a new entry level.  The garden room addition is distinguished by elegant, exposed glulam moment frames with concealed connections, in a nod to the Norwegian ship building legacy.  The social hub transformed an existing first floor patio into an atrium with a circulating stair.  Reinforcing of existing trusses surrounding the social hub was minimized by supporting the skylight and stair from a new hollow structural sections (HSS) structure above the original roof framing, with posts down to the existing columns. 

SK&A also served as the Building Enclosure Consultant for project and provided comprehensive technical reviews of the building enclosure and the various air, water, thermal, and vapor control materials and components and systems during the schematic design, design development, and construction documents phases.  SK&A performed a hygrothermal analysis per ASHRAE Standard 160 of the proposed wall and roof assemblies during the design development phase using the WUFI® Plus 3.1 software program.   

Designed by the renowned architectural firm of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and local architectural firm, Hickok Cole, the International Spy Museum is a new contemporary building featuring museum exhibition, office, retail, classrooms, and event spaces, a glass atrium at the western side, a new 1st floor (exterior plaza and interior lobby and retail space), and a rooftop terrace.  The total height of the building is approximately 130 feet above the 1st floor and is adjacent to the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel.

The west side of the building is an open atrium space that cantilevers west of the property line and hangs a dramatic glass veil structure.  The atrium platforms, monumental stairs, and their supporting structural elements all consist of custom fabricated, architecturally exposed, structural steel elements.  These elements have surface preparation levels, paint, and lighting patterns that provide a dramatic showcase finish for the entire atrium. 

The building structure above the 1st floor is composed of composite steel framing with concrete-on-metal deck and steel columns.  Below the 1st floor, the existing building’s conventionally reinforced concrete structure and foundations were strengthened to accommodate the new seven-story vertical expansion.  The existing concrete columns were jacketed and new concrete shear walls were introduced in the existing building structure.  Foundations were either enlarged and/or strengthened with micropiles.

Watch this video about the design & construction of the museum.

View photos from the museum's opening night.

The former Atlantic Plumbing site, located along 8th and V Streets near Florida Avenue, NW, includes three separate parcels A, B and C.  SK&A provided structural engineering services for the development of Parcels A and B which include two new, luxury, urban high-design residential buildings with ground-level retail spaces and underground parking for 190 cars.  Parcel C, which is currently under design, includes a nine-story hotel and a 10-story residential building connected together by a bridge spanning W Street, NW.  

The first building at 2112 8th Street, NW (Parcel A) is a 10-story, cast-in-place concrete building with 339 units and two levels of below-grade parking.  Building amenities include a rooftop pool, bar, kitchenettes, movie screening area, vegetable garden plots, a business center, communal lounge area with theater, a fitness center, and bicycle storage rooms.  To give the building an edgy, industrial look, the exterior exo-skeleton frame of the building is comprised of Corten weathering steel.  The design and detail of the steel frame exo-skeleton is designed to resist both lateral and thermal loads.

2030 8th Street, NW (Parcel B) includes a second building with six stories and 71 condominium units.  This smaller building is a cast-in-place concrete structure with one level of below-grade parking.  The building features 10’ ceilings, rooftop terraces, a business center, as well as fitness and bicycle storage rooms.

In addition to traditional retail, the project includes 1,500 sf of artist studios occupied by the Washington Project for the Arts as well as a 10,000 sf Landmark movie theater.

SK&A provided structural engineering services for the development of the new Turkish American Cultural Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland.  The center serves as a cultural home for the Turkish-American community within the Washington metropolitan area.

The 15-acre campus features multiple buildings positioned around a centrally-located Mosque with dual 210-foot tall Minarets (towers), an Ablution area, and two separate fountains.  The additional buildings include a reception hall, Turkish bath/sports center, theology center, and guesthouse building, with shell space for a future school.  

Underground parking (150,700 sf) for approximately 500 cars extends below the reception hall, Turkish bath, Mosque, and the landscaped/hardscaped plaza.  The development also includes 10 individual single-family homes for guest housing.  The buildings are designed to achieve LEED Silver certification.