300 New Jersey Avenue

RRP was commissioned by the Washington DC-based developer The JBG Companies in September 2004 to create a new 10-storey building at 300 New Jersey Avenue in Washington DC.

300 New Jersey Avenue occupies a complex hexagonal site, one block away from Capitol Hill. The site currently comprises two existing buildings and an above-ground car park. The original building – the six-storey Acacia Building – dates from 1935 and was designed by the architects of the Empire State Building, and has a historically important limestone façade. The second building was built some 18 years later by the same architect. Both buildings are occupied by Jones Day, an international law firm, and have by today’s standards generous floor-to-floor heights.

The client’s brief called for additional office space for the existing tenant as well as surplus space that could be leased to multiple tenants. RRP’s response is a new 10-storey ‘stand alone’ office building with efficient floor-to-floor heights, and flexible floor plates. A 12,000 sq ft glazed atrium will allow existing staff to circulate between the existing and new buildings. The scheme also provides six levels of new below-ground car parking.

The scheme offers a significant gesture in terms of public space, with a new public plaza being created at street level. In addition, the new building ‘folds back’ from New Jersey Avenue, softening the street wall and allowing public vistas from the street to the inner courtyard beyond.

Work on site commenced in May 2006 and the project is due for completion in 2008.