Sixties Solarium house, 1960s Northwest Washington DC home, Modern USA Residential Architecture Images

Sixties Solarium in Washington DC

20C American Residential Development in Washington DC design by Gardner Architects LLC

Jan 29, 2018

Design: Gardner Architects LLC

Location: Northwest Washington, D.C., USA

Sixties Solarium

photo © Boris Suvac

Photos by Amy Gardner, Boris Suvac and Jim Tetro

Sixties Solarium Washington, D.C. home

This house, originally built in 1929 in Northwest Washington DC, was modified with 1969-era “solarium” additions. The 1969 additions, though deteriorated and always too-hot or too-cold due to poor original construction, nonetheless offered wonderful daylit spaces and made strong connections between the house and the site, perched above Rock Creek Park.

photos © Jim Tetro

The owners sought to embark on a thorough-going renovation and rehabilitation of the 1969 portions of the house. Their goals included energy-conserving improvements focused on passive strategies for daylighting and ventilation, and updating the character and identity of the spaces while preserving their value and appeal.

photo © Jim Tetro

The project includes new cladding, insulation and interior finishes, and mechanical system improvements featuring radiant floors. Doors, windows and skylights were replaced with high-performance glazing and translucent wall and skylight systems. The shape of the spaces allowed the design strategy to feature natural cross ventilation, drawing air in low and exhausting high through the eleven new skylights.

photos © Jim Tetro

The orientation of the additions is north/south, allowing a special opportunity to design the door, window, skylight and translucent wall systems to reflect light throughout the lower and upper reaches of the space, with minimal reliance on light fixtures for daytime lighting.

photos © Amy Gardner