The Irwin on 14th Street Gets a New Look

• November 8, 2011
• 1 Comment

by UrbanTurf Staff

New rendering of The Irwin

A few months ago, UrbanTurf reported on a six-story, 53-unit apartment building called The Irwin, which is planned for the vacant lot at 1328 14th Street NW (map) south of Rhode Island Avenue. The project’s original design was met with opposition from members of the ANC 2F development committee in late August, some of whom felt that its glass design didn’t fit in with the rest of the buildings on the street. The developer and architect went back to make some design changes and DCmud reported this morning on the revised design. Here is what project architect Sarah Alexander told the website about the changes that were made:

“This design incorporates a more traditional skin of red brick masonry with still keeping the playful ‘artistic’ moves [including the] entry canopy and rooftop stair towers.” There will be an entry lobby visible from the street that will have an “art gallery feel”

Original rendering for The Irwin

At the August ANC meeting, Alexander said that the apartments would be mainly studios and one-bedrooms, ranging in size from 500 to 600 square feet. The project would have a large internal courtyard, a common roof terrace, a fitness center, bicycle storage and parking for about a quarter of the units. There would also be 4,100 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

This stretch of 14th Street has been in the news a lot lately. Yesterday, it was announced that the nationwide thrift store chain Buffalo Exchange is coming to the corridor in early 2012, and as we reported late October, a new five-unit project is being built by CAS Riegler a few doors down from The Irwin.

Renderings from Torti Gallas and Partners.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_irwin_on_14th_street_gets_a_new_look/4534

1 Comment

1. Drew Mitchell said at 12:35 am on Thursday November 17, 2011:

   I attended tonight’s meeting and unfortunately in this case apparently the design ship sailed a while ago… an uninspiring compromise where nobody really wins.

   We are in an arts overlay district and that spirit should infuse the built environment, not just what’s contained within the structures. This is a missed opportunity to create something cool, special, creative, stunning.

   Progressive design (including architecture) must be supported by our community or we shouldn’t be allowed to keep our moniker DC Arts District.

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