900 16th Street NW

Washington, DC

900 16th Street NW is an 141,026 SF office building that includes ground floor retail, a church and below grade parking. The building consists of nine stories above grade and three stories of below grade parking, fitness center, and a central plant. Cooper Carry collaborated with Robert A.M. Stern Architects on this project.

Cooper Carry worked with JBG/ICG, the project’s developers, along with The First Church of Christ Scientist, the project’s owners, and Miller & Chevalier, a law firm which occupies over 70% of the building. The original Christian Science Church and Christian Science Monitor building located on this site were built in the 1970’s. Designed by Araldo Cassutta, at I.M. Pei Partners, the projects were slated for Historic designation. Because of the prominence of the site- just 2 blocks from the White House, and the I.M. Pei design of the original buildings, the project took almost 2 decades to come to fruition. The project required a number of approvals from the Historic Preservation Review Board, and over 20 City agencies. The new building is an exceptional architectural statement that fits comfortably within the stately surroundings of lower 16th Street. The skin of the building is composed of high quality materials including Indiana Limestone, White Cherokee Marble, and Bronze windows and trim to match the monumental buildings of Washington DC. The Church is articulated as a glassy, crystalline structure with faceted edges. It is deliberately transparent from the street to convey an open, welcome feeling in keeping with the Church’s tenets of faith and religious mission.