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In Washington, DC, a city with a broad range of historically significant educational facilities, school modernization projects are required to resolve the challenge of renovating and adding to existing outdated structures in a public approvals process that includes the State Historic Preservation Office and the Congressionally appointed US Commission of Fine Arts.  

The Adams Education Campus, located within the Washington Heights historic district, exemplifies the ways in which historic buildings require precise intervention and treatment of prominent features that must be coordinated with local officials and review boards. Properly considered, Adams models the opportunity to take a sustainable approach toward preserving important cultural landmarks and maintaining their relevance going forward by adapting them to new flexible styles of learning. This design process focuses heavily on striking the proper balance between renovated and newly built learning spaces while fostering interconnectivity of design and the community for the adaptive reuse of outdated spaces. These modernization efforts may also facilitate new connections not only to the outdoors, where more learning is increasingly taking place, but also to the neighborhood through shared community spaces and reimagined site amenities. Public art interventions coordinated as part of the community engagement process may also be used to enhance the understanding of the cultural context and bring new life to outdated portions of existing structures. 

Through a guided tour of the Adams Education Campus, visitors will learn the vital role collaboration with DGS and DCPS plays in creating a successful school that adapts to evolving learning styles and ensures the campus meets the diverse needs of its student body.  The tour will also explore how the unique design build, fast-track delivery method at Adams Education Campus promotes design excellence. By exploring an efficient modernization that respects the city’s historical and urban context, visitors will witness how this approach fosters seamless collaboration, accelerates project timelines, and ensures high-quality, context-sensitive designs that balance innovation with preservation.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how architects provide equitable opportunities for a range of students by navigating DC approvals to sensitively combine rehabilitated historic structures with contemporary additions.
• Understand ways to arrange educational program elements between historic and new structures to ensure equal access to educational resources and shared community program.
• Analyze methods to implement sustainable strategies supporting LEED and Net Zero standards in an historic structure to improve comfort, reduce environmental impacts, and showcase innovation.
• Identify constructability hurdles of adding to an historic structure on a tight, vertical urban site with limited access and staging area.

Presented by:

Marquisha Powell, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA, Senior Associate, StudioMB
Chandler Householder, Staff Designer
Frances Prado, Staff Designer
David Bagnoli, Principal in Charge, AIA, LEED BD+C