Firm

The 2020 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Washington Trends Awards program recognized innovative projects in the DC region. 655 New York Avenue, NW was the winner of the Excellence in Office Development category. The three finalists in that category also included a second SBA project, 4747 Bethesda Avenue. The awards presentation described 655 New York as “striking the right balance between historic preservation, the needs of today’s office tenants, and attention to the urban fabric.” See the full video at  https://vimeo.com/490811896 

An ENR MidAtlantic profile of 7272 Wisconsin detailed the significant challenges of designing and building the nearly one million square foot mixed-use project over and adjacent to mass-transit infrastructure. The team discusses how early collaboration and the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) were critical to keeping the design and construction sequencing on schedule. Tenants and residents have begun moving in to the 23-story office tower and two residential towers, which top a shared six-story retail and parking podium. Read the article at https://www.enr.com/articles/50879-early-underground-efforts-pay-off-for-towers-team.

The DC Preservation League and the DC Historic Preservation Office honored the US Department of the Interior (DOI) Headquarters Modernization in the 2020 District of Columbia Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation. The project was one of three winners in the design and construction category; a jury member commented that the winning projects were led by “quality teams who respected the buildings and were committed to breathing new life into these important landmarks.” View a video presentation of the awards at https://youtu.be/H-zJT2LKwo4?t=785

Leidos Global Headquarters – 17FIFTY at Reston Town Center was honored in Fairfax County’s 2020 James M. Scott Exceptional Design Awards. The project was the only commercial building selected by the jury, who commented that “the finely crafted Leidos building offers a simple form of mass with high quality skin, clean and contemporary, setting a new architectural vocabulary within the existing urban fabric. Excelling above the surrounding context, it is a good precedent for future development in Fairfax County.”

The 2020 AIA Potomac Valley Excellence in Design Awards honored 4747 Bethesda with one of two Gold Honor Awards and named it the Best in Show of non-residential projects. The new 291,000 sf office building in Bethesda, MD is home to the national headquarters of JBG SMITH. The awards jury recognized 12 projects as the most innovative and noteworthy among the 56 entries submitted, and commented that 4747 Bethesda “is an essay on how to make a modern building that gets richer and richer as you get closer. The building is skillfully shaped and alive in its appeal to its neighbor buildings, the sun, clouds and sky. Conceiving of a shape and skin with detail that is alive and illusive ensures presence in our experience.”

Signature at Reston Town Center was selected as one of 14 winners among 79 entries in the 2020 Washingtonian Residential Design Awards. Co-sponsored by the AIA|DC and Washingtonian Magazine, the program recognizes excellence in single- and multi-family residential design projects throughout the Washington metropolitan region. The jury commented that “larger projects are often much harder to do well than smaller ones, and Signature did a beautiful job at creating great work on a large scale.” The jury also appreciated the layers in the facade. 

Four SBA projects have earned LEED certifications since May:

• Leidos Global Headquarters - 17FIFTY at Reston Town Center – LEED Gold CS (v3/2009)
• City Ridge – LEED Gold ND: Plan (v4)
• The Boro Block A Residential – LEED Silver NC (v3/2009)
• The Boro Block B3 Office – LEED Silver CS (v3/2009)

SBA’s portfolio includes more than 39 million square feet of projects that have earned or are being designed to achieve LEED certification. Since 2010, Engineering News-Record (ENR) has ranked the firm among the “Top 100 Green Buildings Design Firms” nationwide.

2100 K Street, NW, a new 154,000 sf office building in DC’s West End, has earned LEED Platinum certification. It was designed to have 26% energy savings over the industry baseline. Additional sustainable design features include a grey water system; raised planters and underground cisterns to manage rainwater discharge; water-efficient plumbing and irrigation systems; and use of a rooftop solar array for power generation. Additional LEED Platinum projects in the firm’s portfolio include 4500 East West Highway, Capitol View on 14th, and the US Department of the Interior Headquarters Modernization, which earned two Platinum certifications.

Lincoln Property Company and Cara Real Estate announced the “topping out” of 699 Fourteenth Street, NW. The renovation of the National Register-listed bank building and addition of a modern 11-story office tower and street level retail will energize a long-dormant corner of 14th and G Streets, NW. The project is targeting LEED Gold certification. Read more about the project’s topping out here. 

The Summer 2020 issue of ArchitectureDC includes a feature article on 4747 Bethesda Avenue in its review of innovative office and commercial projects. The article notes that the project has delivered “the kind of placemaking architecture that, through carefully considered massing, articulation, and materials, successfully makes the connection between two vibrant area of distinctly different character and contributes to the vitality of both.” Read the 2018 Summer issue at http://flipbook.hbp.com/Summer2020/

Shalom Baranes, FAIA discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic may impact future office design with CBS affiliate WUSA 9. In an interview with reporter Matt Gregory, Baranes noted that “We have to be careful that we don't limit our design solutions to only solve yesterday's wars." Baranes highlighted the Universal Space Plan system developed for SBA’s renovation of The Pentagon Wedges 2-5 as an example of a future-focused solution that allows for very significant reconfiguration of office spaces in very short periods of time. Baranes further expects to see a design shift in residential projects, as the popularity of open concept living has reduced the options for privacy while working remotely from home. See the full interview at https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/after-coronavirus-pandemic-what-will-offices-look-like/65-ff8dca6c-d8ae-4bdf-abf2-e467c9f568e0

Robinson Landing, a new mixed-use development on a historic industrial waterfront site in Old Town Alexandria, VA, received a 2019 Best in American Living™ Gold Award from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for its townhomes. The program recognizes outstanding achievement by builders and design professionals in all sectors of the residential housing industry, including single- and multi-family projects. Robinson Landing will feature 26 four-story townhouses, three five-story multi-family buildings, a 5,000-sf restaurant, and 5,000 sf of commercial lease space.