Letter
Dear Ms. Peters:
In its meeting of 17 September, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed the revised concept design for the renovation of and additions to the William McChesney Martin, Jr. Building of the Federal Reserve Board at 2000 C Street, NW. As in their past review of this project, the Commission members acknowledged the difficulty of adding to this classic Modernist building and supported the general disposition of the proposed additions. They approved the concept in its basic planning but requested that options for the additions be developed for a future submission as a revised concept.
In their discussion, the Commission members expressed a preference for the approach illustrated in option #2, which they saw as more respectful of the original building. However, they raised concerns that the proposal does not successfully integrate the new volumes, which they found to dominate the existing architecture when seen from the street. The Commission recommended further development of the massing and articulation of the additions to minimize their impact and apparent scale; they requested the development of options such as lowering the conference areas one level into the existing plinth, or articulating the east and west additions as pavilions attached to the main building with lower hyphen connectors. In addition,the Commission members requested further development of the architectonic details and the elimination of the canted glass areas along C Street.
The Commission looks forward to seeing the development of the design in a future presentation as a revised concept with alternatives to address the impact of the additions. As always, the staff is available to assist you with the next submission.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, AIA
Secretary
H. Fay Peters
Director, Management Division
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Washington, DC 20551
cc: Keith Bates, Federal Reserve System
Enrique Bellini, Karn Charuhas Chapman & Twohey