House of Lebanon is Approved and Designated as a DC Landmark

House of Lebanon (Former Margaret Murray Washington School) Designated as Landmark

The Margaret Murray Washington School (27 O Street NW), built in 1912, will be designated as landmark in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites. Cunningham | Quill Architects plans to restore the building and modify the site to create affordable housing for the District of Columbia. Recently approved by the DC Historic Preservation Review Board on September 29th, the "House of Lebanon" Project will also have multi-purpose recreation and meeting spaces. To learn more about our approvals process, visit our Outreach Approach, or see DC HistoricPreservation for more information on the historic designation and approval of this project.

Roanoke City Market Opens To The Public

On September 3, the Roanoke City Market re-opened to the public with an Open House ceremony.

Exterior of the Roanoke City Market

Originally built in 1922, the building had hosted meat and fish purveyors in a traditional market environment. In the mid-1980s, the market became an international food court, dark and uninviting. To restore the building to its early grandeur as a destination in Downtown Roanoke, Cunningham | Quill Architects began the redesign of the market in 2009. After a year of renovations, the market building is now a light-filled center that incorporates the traditional market feeling with modern vendor spaces. The building also contains non-food vendors, making the market a center for activity throughout the day.

Interior Market Space

Roanoke City Market

With the Roanoke City Market set to open Labor Day weekend, a reporter for the Roanoke Times was given a sneak peak at the nearly completed building. Cunningham | Quill Architects has worked on the historic preservation and adaptive reuse of the historic market building for the last two years.

One of the dramatic transformations has been the Assembly Hall. Once structurally unsound and poorly lit, the Assembly Hall is now ready to welcome the public again.

Assembly Hall Before

Assembly Hall After. Image Appears on the The Storefront.

To read the full post on the Roanoke Times website, see Inside the Roanoke Market Building.

10th and G Street Offices Construction Watch Tour

On Saturday, the National Building Museum hosted a Construction Watch Tour of our mixed-use 10th & G Street project located in downtown Washington, DC. Led by Michael Day, AIA, LEED-AP, Associate, and Chris Morrison, AIA, LEED-AP, Principal, of Cunningham | Quill Architects, nearly 40 participants got a firsthand look at the project, which contains retail, Class A office space, and the First Congregational United Church of Christ (FCUCC).

At the tour, an FCUCC representative, Barbara Brown Zikmund said "We wanted to be a green building. We were committed to that from the beginning." The building is on track for LEED Gold Certification.

See the tour in pictures.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Mount Rainier Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plan (Week 15)

Located at the northeast entrance to Washington, DC, the City of Mount Rainier, MD was interested in improving its urban environment. In an effort to develop a new community-supported vision for the City that was founded on current and projected economic and market analysis, the CQA team (Bolan Smart, Gorove/Slade, R. McGhee & Associates, and Urban Advantage) designed the Mount Rainier Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plan. The Plan looks back to the city’s history as a successful mixed-use neighborhood, using a fine-grained approach, preserving buildings and inserting new infill structures.

Rendering of Rhode Island Avenue

The design process began with multiple site tours, interviews, and stakeholder meetings. A series of charrettes and community meetings were held throughout the process to ensure public participation and involvement.

Community Workshop & Charrette Session

Envisioning the area as a vital, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use town center with a special focus on the city’s artistic, historic, and environmental traditions, the final development plan includes implementation strategies, draft form-based code development/design guidelines, and transportation, land use, and sustainable infrastructure recommendations.

The Mount Rainier Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plan has received strong city, county and community support. Serving as an example of how historic neighborhoods can overcome past disinvestment and plan for a brighter future, the plan is currently being adopted as a prototype for other historic town centers in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Illustrative Plan

The Mount Rainier Mixed-Use Town Center plan has received two AIA Awards for its excellence in Master Planning and Urban Design, and has also been featured in Urban Land Magazine.

10th and G Street Offices Construction Watch Tour with the National Building Museum

10th & G Street Offices Under Construction

On Saturday, June 25, 2011, the National Building Museum will be hosting a Construction Watch Tour of Cunningham | Quill Architects’ 10^th & G Street Offices and First Congregational United Church of Christ. The 188,000 sf building, located in downtown Washington, DC, is a dynamic mixed-use project consisting of office, retail, and church worship space. The project, immediately adjacent to the Martin Luther King Jr. Library and across from CQA’s Mather Building, is expected to achieve LEED Gold Certification.

National Building Museum Construction Watch Tours typically emphasize special construction methods and innovative technologies used in the building process, whether with Historic Preservation projects or cutting-edge sustainable projects. According to the NBM website, "Because the tours are led by developers, architects, and contractors, they offer direct access to key figures who are shaping our built environment.”

Cunningham | Quill Architects Associate, Michael Day, AIA, LEED-AP, will lead the tour on Saturday, June 25. For more information on the National Building Museum’s Construction Watch Tour of 10th & G Street Offices, or to purchase tickets, please visit the National Building Museum. For more information on 10th & G Street Offices, please visit Cunningham | Quill Architects.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: The Clayborne (Week 13)

Located at the gateway entry to the City of Alexandria in the south end of the historic district, this mixed-use residential and retail project completes the master plan for an existing retail center.

The Clayborne, in the background, completes a Mixed-Use Neighborhood.

The building occupies the west half of a city block, and was created as a series of discrete structures with varying treatment of mass, scale and architectural detail. Inspired by the urban fabric of Old Town and neighboring garden apartment typologies, a center four-story manor house is flanked by three-story townhouse buildings with porches and intimate garden courtyards to maintain the scale and articulation of the adjacent residential streetscapes.

Varying mass, details, and entry ways break up the visual scale of the building.

The building includes 74 apartment units and 2,400 sf of ground floor retail. The varied design of this project retains the retail and restaurant presence of the neighborhood.

New retail space and apartments above merges with the residential side.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard (Week 11)

View of the Winemaking Facility and Restored Barn and Silo from the Northwest Elevation.

Located on the Agricultural Reserves in Montgomery County, Maryland, Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard  returns a Historic Bank Barn and Silo to agricultural use by producing superb, handcrafted wines within a new, state-of-the-art Winemaking Facility.

Metal and Glass Facade allows an element of Transparency into the Winemaking Process.

The new metal and glass facility is partially banked into the earth and faces onto a new forecourt, emitting a soft glow at night from within the glazed fermentation room as a beacon for the Vineyard, while the renovated barn includes public and private tasting areas as well as winery offices. The winery has been featured in the New York Times, and has received five American Institute of Architects Awards.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Huntfield Mixed-Use Master Plan (Week 9)

In the early 2000s, Cunningham | Quill Architects led a master planning effort for the design of 996 acres in Charles Town, West Virginia.

Huntfield New Neighborhood Illustrative Plan

Within the county’s urban growth boundary and adjacent to several important George Washington family homes, the Huntfield Master Plan draws heavily from local character and history for the design of this plan. Proposed as a residential and mixed-use master plan, the site would be established as transit-oriented development, connecting Huntfield with downtown Washington, DC via commuter railway.

Aerial Rendering of Huntfield Master Plan showing Commuter Rail Station

The plan reflects principles of smart growth: compact design; directing development toward existing communities; a mix of land uses; pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with parks, civic buildings and retail. In addition, a proposed open space system connects to downtown Charles Town to its future historic trail system.

First Neighborhood of Huntfield, Charles Town already Completed

Following months of interactive public meetings, Jefferson County voted to support the new plan and eight months later, Huntfield was annexed into the City of Charles Town. Portions of the project have already been completed, with other parcels still under construction.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: The Mather Building (Week 8)

Setting a precedent as the first conversion of a downtown office building into multi-family residential housing, The Mather Building Studios is a unique landmark in the District of Columbia. Originally built as an office building in 1917, it was later converted to academic use in 1967 by the University of the District of Columbia, and then abandoned by 1989. In 2001, The Mather Building began its revival with the help of Cunningham | Quill Architects.

Full View of Building from G Street NW showing Rooftop Penthouse.

Detailed historic research helped restore the gothic revival terra cotta facade to its original condition. The building conversion into a mixed-income, multi-family residential space provides affordable housing for artists as well as market-rate condominiums.

Side by side view of Terra Cotta Brick Mapping and Restored Building.

The building also contains the Gallery at Flashpoint and the Coors Dance Studio on the ground level as well as a new rooftop penthouse that provides spectacular views of the National Mall.

The Gallery at Flashpoint contains a contemporary art gallery, a 75-seat theatre, a dance studio, and office space.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Potomac Yard Master Plan (Week 4)

Potomac Yard in Alexandria, VA was abandoned for more than ten years, while unsuccessful efforts were made to plan the former railroad switching yard. In 1998, the property’s new owner selected Cunningham | Quill Architects to spearhead an interactive community design process.

Alexandria Portion of Potomac Yard Master Plan  |  Alexandria, VA

CQA led an interdisciplinary team in developing a master plan that achieved a new vision for Potomac Yard. After 20 community outreach meetings held over 16 months, the team gained consensus on a new master plan. The success of uniting the community led to a unanimous vote of approval by the City of Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council on the Potomac Yard Master Plan. The Potomac Yard Process provides a framework of engagement built on effective communication with the community.

Lee Quill leading one of the community outreach meetings that led to the plan's success.

The new infill plan created 5 compact, mixed-use and pedestrian-focused neighborhoods and town center focused on transit stops.  A connected open space system links a network of smaller neighborhood and new larger city-wide parks throughout the plan, which locates residents within a 5-minute walk of any major park. Informed by the historic street and grid patterns of the adjacent Old Town and Del Ray neighborhoods, the street and block pattern provides neighborhood-serving retail and a major town center at the north end of the site. Higher density commercial and residential buildings are located near existing and potential transit stops, while taller buildings are placed along major street corridors and within the town center.

Rendering of Residential Street in Potomac Yard

The Potomac Yard process received extensive recognition as a model for engaging communities. It was the subject of one of the first EPA Smart Growth Speaker Series lectures at the National Building Museum, and it has been written about in numerous publications including Planning Magazine, Urban Land and Inform Magazine.

Falls Church Gateway Approved

After working with Akridge and the City of Falls Church on a mixed-use development for the the City’s North Washington Street Corridor revitalization effort, the City Council has unanimously approved the project. Falls Church Gateway is an 83,000 sf office/retail and 200-unit residential building located near the East Falls Church Metro Station.

Rendering of Falls Church Gateway  |  Falls Church, VA

The transit-oriented design is consistent with the City’s planning goals and creates a sense of place with a positive pedestrian experience and a sensitive transition from commercial to residential areas. Falls Church Gateway was recognized in 2006 by the Smart Growth Alliance for its sensitivity to adjacent neighborhoods, incorporation of green spaces, and long term goals of a LEED-Neighborhood Development.

To learn more about the project or view more images, please visit Cunningham | Quill Architects. For more information on Akridge regarding the project, please see their official press release.

Sustainable Achievement

In 2010, Cunningham | Quill Architects set out to “Sustainably Move Forward.” Looking back at the year, we accomplished exactly that.



CharityWorks GreenHouse  |  McLean, VA



Our first award of the year was the National Association of Home Builders’ Project of the Year for the CharityWorks GreenHouse. In an application process that went beyond design to look at every sustainable aspect of the project, the CharityWorks GreenHouse excelled from energy modeling to LEED points (The CharityWorks GreenHouse was one of the first LEED Platinum projects in the Mid-Atlantic region). The house also received another Project of the Year honor from the National Capital Region Chapter of the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). The project was also featured in a documentary called GREENHOUSE: DREAM IT. BUILD IT. LIVE IT.



Davis Place  |  Arlington, VA



Our green design Davis Place project in Arlington, VA was also recognized, in addition to our Smart Growth Mount Rainier Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plan for the City of Mount Rainier, MD.



Mother & Child  |  Washington, DC



Even with all our achievements in green building, we continued to focus primarily on good design. A great design is the driving force for all our projects, whether a single family residence or a large institutional project. In recognition of this practice, we received a total of 6 state and local AIA Awards across the Mid-Atlantic Region.

For more information on our recent winners, see our full list of Awards.