The Yards in Washington, DC is an adaptive reuse site on land that formerly belonged to the United States Navy. Used for shipbuilding and ordinance, its heritage played a pivotal role in its architecture adaption. Executive Architect, WDG, in association with Design Architect Handel Architects, designed the “industrial-inspired” mixed-use buildings.

 The site as a whole features residential and commercial buildings with integrated retail and dining. The Bower at the Yards is the luxury apartment complex that features 137 contemporary units. The units, priced from $360,000 to $2 million, showcase “DC at its finest,” as developer Monty Hoffman of PN Hoffman describes.

The architects at WDG explain, “Parcel O-1 (the Bower) achieves aesthetic authenticity by using design precedents found at The Yards. By representing historic features—including character, materials, colors and textures—the building is new construction that could be mistaken for adaptive reuse.”

The building, in the highly competitive DC residential marketplace, features lucrative living amenities with an outdoor terrace, fitness studio and ground level boutiques.

Working closely with General Contractors, Clark Construction, CEI Materials fabricated the metal composite exterior components of the façade. The architects further explain, “Inset windows, separated by industrial dark metal, create large store fronts. Following the character of the precedents, the upper levels feature a greater percentage of glass to brick than the base. Though the primary frontage façade faces north towards the city, nods to the nearby river are found in wave-like windows.”

The dark metal composite mimics dark steel used in ship building as a demonstration to the site’s rich history. Fabricated utilizing CEI’s W5000 Route & Return Silicone Joint Panel System, the system offers structural silicone joint and hidden fasteners featured throughout the project’s extruded balconies.