John Ronan Architects

Washington DC This renovation of an historic commercial laundry building into condominiums with amenities begins with an understanding of the rich physical history of the existing structure that is written in its vaulted floor structure, its oddly-spaced floor framing, and its pock-marked concrete and brick. The design proposes to preserve this character and that new interventions should be minimal, legible and discrete, and proposes a strategy of selective intervention that defines the new project as the sum total of two parallel realities: the existing structure with its attendant character, and the new programmatic interventions, which are inserted into the existing structure like furniture.