1111 Pennsylvania Avenue is a

mid-rise A low-rise is a building that is only a few stories tall or any building that is shorter than a high-rise, though others include the classification of mid-rise. Definition Emporis defines a low-rise as "an enclosed structure below 35 metres 15 ...

Postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

office building An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

located in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in the United States. It is tall, has 14 stories, and has a four-story underground parking garage. It is a "contributing" resource to the

Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the city of Washington, D.C. Established on September 30, 1965, the site is roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW. The hi ...

History of the site

The site, on the northeast corner of 12th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, was originally occupied by the Fountain Inn, erected in 1815Goode, James W. ''Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings.'' 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 2003, p. 388. after the

burning of Washington The Burning of Washington was a British invasion of Washington City (now Washington, D.C.), the capital of the United States, during the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. It is the only time since the American Revolutionary War that a ...

. This structure was razed and in 1847 the four-story Fuller Hotel opened. Renamed the Kirkwood House, it was the residence of

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

; he took the

oath of office of the president of the United States The oath of office of the president of the United States is the oath or affirmation that the president of the United States takes upon assuming office. The wording of the oath is specified in Article II, Section One, Clause 8, of the United Sta ...

there in April 1865 after the assassination of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. Kirkwood House was razed in 1875 and replaced with the Shepherd Centennial Building, a seven-story office building in the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

style (it opened in 1876). The Shepherd Centennial Building was converted into a hotel in 1893 by architect Leon E. Dessez and renamed the Raleigh Hotel.Goode, ''Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings,'' 2003, p. 218. The Raleigh Hotel was razed in 1911 and rebuilt by architect

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (February 6, 1847 – March 13, 1918) was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings, and as a "master of a new building form — the skyscraper." Life and career Hardenbergh was born in ...

as a 13-story Beaux Arts hotel with a rusticated

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, white

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, and

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

exterior. Congress changed the height limit for buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue NW from to in 1910 in order to accommodate the Raleigh Hotel.

Current structure

1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW - Washington DC - 2010-0006

The Raleigh Hotel closed in 1954, and by 1965 developer Jerry Wolman had purchased the site and proposed building the current structure.Asher, Robert L. "U.S. Control Of Avenue Explored." ''Washington Post.'' January 31, 1965. It was one of the first structures built under the Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment plan approved in 1964, and the first private building to be built.Von Eckhardt, Wolf. "New Office Building Approved for Avenue." ''Washington Post.'' February 18, 1965. Because of restrictions imposed by the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site legislation, Wolman agreed to move the building line back from Pennsylvania Avenue by and keep the building's height to , although in exchange for the loss of interior square footage

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

zoning officials gave him permission to cantilever the building over the sidewalk on 12th Street at a height about above the street. Named the Presidential Building (or the Presidential Office Building), the structure was designed by Edmund W. Dreyfuss & Associates in the

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

style.Haggerty, Maryann. "Major Renovation Slated For 12th St. Building." ''Washington Post.'' February 17, 1996. Dreyfuss worked closely on the building with John Woodbridge, a staff architect for the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue and a member of the firm

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...

. The President's Council chairman was

Nathaniel A. Owings Nathaniel Alexander Owings (February 5, 1903 – June 13, 1984) was an American architect, a founding partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which became one of the largest architectural firms in the United States and the world. Owings viewed ...

, a partner in that firm. The building was completed in mid-1968, and originally had of interior space. Its address at this time was 415 12th Street NW. The

District of Columbia Public Schools The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter ...

leased seven of the floors in the building, with other District government offices renting the remaining space.

2002 renovation

Purchased by local surgeon Laszlo Tauber, one of the richest men in the D.C. area, the structure underwent a $40 million renovation between 2000 and 2002. It was the last private building on Pennsylvania Avenue to be renovated under the

Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the city of Washington, D.C. Established on September 30, 1965, the site is roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW. The his ...

's 1974 redevelopment plan. The facade was replaced with a

style more in tune with the nearby Evening Star building addition next to it on Pennsylvania Avenue, and two stories were added. The total interior space increased from to . The front entrance was moved from 12th Street NW to Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and the address changed to 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The architect of record for the structural renovations was

Shalom Baranes Associates Shalom Baranes Associates, PC is an architectural design firm located in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was founded by architect Shalom Baranes in 1981, and as of 2014 had more than 140 architect principals and associates. In 2013, it ...

. Studios Architecture designed the interiors. An existed between the renovated structure and the Evening Star building addition to the east.Forgey, Benjamin. "Law Firm's Pipe Dream Comes True." ''Washington Post.'' February 16, 2002. In order to create natural light in the office windows facing the Evening Star building, Studios Architecture built a

light pipe Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

—a , , prism designed to convey natural sunlight down to all floors and into all offices. On cloudy days and at night, the light pipe is artificially illuminated with a rainbow of colors. The law firm of

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,200 legal professionals in 31 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Mergers with other law firms stimulated global growth and led to ...

leased the entire building in 2002, and signed a long-term lease renewal in 2014.

References

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External links

Presidential Building - official website
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh buildings Office buildings completed in 1968 Office buildings in Washington, D.C.

History of the site

Current structure

2002 renovation

See also

References

External links