Most Unexpected Conversion: The Skating Rink Turned Apartments

• December 19th 2013

by UrbanTurf Staff

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Over the years, we have seen schools, banks, garages and auto body shops converted for residential use. But 2013 brought a new type of conversion.

In February, we learned that the domed area above the Adams Morgan Harris Teeter that used to house a roller skating rink was in the process of being transformed into 39 apartments.

The building at 1631 Kalorama Road NW (map) opened in 1947 as the National Arena and served as a public roller rink and bowling alley before becoming the Citadel Motion Picture Center in 1986. R2L:Architects was tasked in recent years with creating apartments that fit the unusual space directly above the market.

The dome reaches a ceiling height of 20 feet, so the architects designed units that step up to lofted sleeping areas to make the most use of the heights. A ring of 31 apartments surround a center block of eight more. The residences on the perimeter have sleeping lofts at the back, and the eight central units, which have no access to the perimeter windows, will be lit by skylights.

The Citadel Apartments, as they have been dubbed, welcomed its first tenants in May.

Other entries in UrbanTurf’s Best of 2013:

• The Best Listing of 2013: Bauhaus in Brookland
• Best 15-Year Vision: Georgetown 2028
• Best Rumor Heard in 2013: Eataly to Uline
• Best Big Screen Trend: The Movie Theater Rush
• Best Signs of DC’s Hot Housing Market: Above Asking and Multiple Bids
• Best Alternative to a Studio: DC’s One-Room House
• Best Way to Live and Learn: Buy the Pierce School Lofts
• Best Design of The Year: Montgomery County’s Tallest Residences
• Best Neighborhood Home Price Appreciation: Trinidad

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/best_residential_re-use_skating_rink_turned_apartments/7946.