continued

The interior designer for the Investment Building was Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning Worldwide, which received the 2000 AIA Architecture Firm Award. As Bert Oliva, vice president of Gensler's Washington office notes, "we wanted to enhance the atrium by working out in concentric circles." This circular theme is also repeated in the carpet pattern, in the curved walls of some corridors, and even in the wedged-shaped tables in a few conference rooms.

Gensler had been designing Sidley offices in other cities since 1989 but in this case had to accommodate the more traditional tastes in the Washington office. Oliva says: "We approached Sidley Austin Brown & Wood's Washington office with an eye to providing a highly efficient law firm environment that combined the special features of this historic building and the contemporary outlook of a leading global law firm."

Yet in subtle and respectful ways, such as through wall treatments, they softened the cutting edge of Pelli's design to suit the sensibilities of Rubenstein and his colleagues.

Although the Investment Building was not a designated city landmark or inside a historic district, Kaempfer agreed to preserve the two street facades and keep the District of Columbia Preservation League (DCPL) informed as the design evolved.

DCPL's former president Sally Berk says she is happy with the result. "The facades were restored and the building remains a landmark of 15th and K," says Berk. "I am especially pleased that the rooftop addition is a striking contemporary design. One can always count on The Kaempfer Company to hire architects who understand that good contemporary design can animate the historic context of downtown."

Pelli, recipient of the AIA Gold Medal and designer of the Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings, was asked why he accepted the relatively small Investment Building commission.

He replied that such projects keep the firm's younger designers interested, and the lessons learned can be applied to other commissions. So Pelli, former dean of Yale University's School of Architecture, continues to teach young designers that architecture is not about style, but about relating to and enriching a physical as well as a societal context.

William Lebovich is an architectural historian and photographer from Chevy Chase, Maryland who photographs new projects for architects and developers and documents properties of historical, architectural, engineering, or industrial significance throughout the continental United States.

Cesar Pelli Connections, at the National Building Museum until April 28, 2002, explores the architect's guiding principles and the resulting buildings.

The elevator lobby faces Sidley's glass-walled law library. Photo: William Lebovich Cafeteria for the law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood in the "new" Investment Building by Cesar Pelli and Gensler. Photo: Nick Merrick/ Hedrich Blessing Sidley's reception area seating. Photo: William Lebovich The Investment Building's K Street entrance and historic aedicula above. Photo: William Lebovich Above the historic cornice rises the modern housing to the new atrium's skylight. Photo: William Lebovich Cesar Pelli, FAIA with his son and partner Rafael Pelli, AIA in front of Investment Building. (Fred Clarke, the third partner and firm co-founder, is not pictured.) Photo: William Lebovich   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.