Moxy Washington, D.C. Downtown

From Archtiects, Fillat + Architecture, the Moxy DC hotel was designed as an homage to Mies Van Der Rohe, the architecture of the hotel is carefully proportioned and crafted with minimalist detailing. The hotel also incorporates the historic façades of three adjacent townhouses.

The 200-room hotel also features a rooftop bar which offers views of the iconic landmarks of DC, highlighting the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. The retractable roof enclosure by OpenAire is adjacent to the bar and opens to the patio beyond creating an indoor/outdoor event space.

OpenAire’s approximately 6m by 13m restaurant enclosure uses a modern, single-slope glass roof that features two 3.5m-long bi-parting roof panels, which slide open from the structure’s center to bathe the restaurant’s interior in abundant light. The aluminum-framed roof is supported by three sets of bi-folding doors, which will open to the adjacent terrace.

Along with LEED® Silver Accreditation, the hotel has won several awards including:

• Good Design = Good Business – AIA Baltimore, 2019
• Excellence in Design Merit, Commercial Architecture – AIA Maryland, 2019
• Best Hospitality Project 2019 – NAIOP DC
• Gold Nugget Award, Best Rehabilitation Project – PCBC
• Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation – DC Office of Planning
• Craftsmanship Award in Site Work – Washington Building Congress

The brief was to develop a hotel in downtown DC that has a lot of natural light, pays respect to the adjacent historic brownstones, that complies with DC’s green building standards.

The key challenges:

The hotel encompasses a historic structure dating back to 1875 and a new-build tower. 

The Height of Building’s Act of 1899/1910 limits building height to 90 feet on residential streets and 130 feet on commercial streets within the District of Columbia

The building facade’s brise soleil external structure not only helps to shade the interiors, thus reducing cooling costs, but provides a character defining, distinctive feature for the façade that avoids the glass-heavy design of other District architecture bound by the District’s height limitations. It still allows for a strong interplay between interior and exterior spaces.

Team:

Architects: Fillat + Architecture

Project Owner: Douglas Development

General Contractor: CBG Building Company

Landscape: Studio 39

Civil: Bohler

Structural: Tadjer Cohen Edelson & Associates

Mechanical: Metropolitan

Photographers: Ron Blunt and John Muggenborg

Materials Used:

Facade cladding: Steel by Extreme Steel, Glazing by Custom Glass Services, Existing Brick, EIFS by Sto (see attached submittal log for more information)

Roofing: Hot Rubberized Asphalt by Henry