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.

DC Solar Home Tour

The 2011 Tour of Solar Homes and Buildings included Cunningham | Quill Architects’ Right Size House on Sunday, October 2nd. Each year the tour features over 50 homes, all examples of sustainable living, highlighting innovative solar design and technology concepts.

Right Size House  |  Falls Church, VA

The Right Size House is a new, 2,400 sf modern passive-solar home designed to meet LEED for Homes Platinum criteria. It has a well-insulated envelope built with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). The house features highly efficient appliances, plumbing fixtures, lighting, and hybrid HVAC equipment. In addition, rainwater is collected in an underground cistern, helping to flush toilets and irrigate the zero-grass landscaping. The home has also been featured on the USA TodayGreen House Blog.

Cathedral Heights Residence: Restoring Order

Cunningham | Quill Architect's award-winning Cathedral Heights Residence was recently published in Home & Design Magazine's September/October Issue. The ten page article highlights our design intent as we created a intimate, yet open space for our clients.

Cathedral Heights Residence Featured on the Home & Design Front Page

To read the complete article online, please visit Restoring Order.

National AIA Recognizes Northern Virginia AIA Design Award Winners

Back in June, we were excited to share our sixth AIA Award for Mother & Child. Now the project, along with the other winners of the AIA Northern Virginia Chapter Design Awards, is being recognized on AIA National's website.

The design award slideshow was one of the most viewed items in the last month. To view the slideshow for yourself, visit AIA National.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Northern Neck House (Week 14)

Front Elevation with Screened Porch

The Northern Neck House is located in Westmoreland County, Virginia, overlooking a quiet inlet of the Potomac River. To create a connection to the waterfront and its wooded surroundings, the design of the house utilizes glass, screened walls, and wood panels that provide privacy for the clients. A screened porch serves as an outdoor gathering space with views of the entire site.

Screened Porch

Open Guest Rooms with View

The two-story house creates an open living arrangement for two, while flexible enough to accommodate several guests comfortably. A large hallway and over sized door openings allow the first floor to function as a large open suite, while telescoping pocket doors on the first and second floors can be closed to create additional guest rooms.

Rear Waterfront Elevation

The wooded two-acre lot dealt with several challenges including site access, topography, existing wetlands, and working with the Chesapeake Bay Act guidelines for setbacks and environmental protection. To minimize environmental impact and maximize energy efficiency, the house was oriented as a result of solar and wind analyses. In addition, design elements such as deep overhangs and passive ventilation were used to create an energy efficient structure.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: The Alta (Week 12)

The Alta facing towards Thomas Circle in Washington, DC

The Alta is located in downtown Washington, DC on 14th Street in the exciting neighborhood of Thomas Circle. The 13-story, concrete frame high-rise building has ground floor retail, 126 residential units on 12 floors, and four levels of below-grade parking.

Living Room

This residential tower is distinguished by its modern finishes. Landscaped terraces on the rooftop and second floor serve double-duty as “green roofs” and community amenities for residents, while expansive windows, exposed ductwork and tile floors create a spacious and clean environment within the heart of Washington, DC.

Second Floor Community Room and Green Roof Terrace

The Alta was the first LEED Certified multi-family condominium building in the District of Columbia. It has since been recognized with multiple American Institute of Architect awards. The Alta has been published in Urban Spaces and Architecture DC.

Mother & Child wins AIA DC Washingtonian Award

Cunningham | Quill Architects received an AIA DC Washingtonian Award for Mother & Child Wednesday night at the Mexican Cultural Institute during the annual Washington Chapter Garden Party.  The award honors Distinctive Residential Design Excellence through the Washington DC Metropolitan Region. Only six firms were recognized with this honor in 2011.

Sarah Shipp, AIA and Ralph Cunningham, FAIA accept the 2011 AIA DC Washingtonian Award
from Tom Luebke, FAIA and Yolanda Cole, AIA for Mother & Child.

This is the fifth American Institute of Architects award Mother & Child has received. For more information on Mother & Child, please visit Cunningham | Quill Architects.

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: Quarry House (Week 7)

When a house looks just as beautiful nearly ten years after completed, you know two things. One, the house has a great home owner. And two, there must be a great architect behind the design. The Quarry House is a great example of this.

Driveway through the House on Steeply Sloped Site.

Located on a steeply sloping wooded lot, this house embodies a program that is as unique as its site. The house is tailored to both the work life and social life of the owner, a professional photographer, and has three major components: a bedroom wing, a photography studio with an office, and a spacious living area for entertaining. The composition of the house was driven not only by programmatic requirements, but also by specific site features. Because of both the topography and the wide setbacks on two sides, the lot defied traditional suburban development. The design approach was unconventional and required thoughtful placement of the three main volumes.

Photography Studio

The bedroom wing aligns with an old quarry road to the south, while the photography studio is at an angle parallel to the north property line and is partially nestled in the earth. The glass living room suspended between the two solid pieces commands a view of the street, the woods, and the entire surrounding neighborhood.

Living Room

The Quarry House has won four American Institute of Architect Awards, and has also been published numerous times. Most recently, it was published in Washington Life magazine. For the article and recent photos, see Picture Perfect.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Glass Bridge (Week 6)

Located on a rolling two-acre site, this rambler had been remodeled and enlarged five times in its forty-year life. The owners wished to resolve awkward floor plan, while adding two new bedrooms for their children, a new Master Suite, an office, a recreation room, and an updated kitchen. An existing Music Room and award-winning cabana were to be retained.

Glass Bridge at Dusk with Exterior Courtyard.

To bridge these new elements with the original house, we extruded the original roof form over the new volumes. The Music Room was extended to create the new office and receive the roof. A new interior gallery is the core of the plan and provides ample display space for the owners’ extensive art collection. The new bedrooms are arranged around the gallery and an exterior courtyard that allows light and air into the interior. A glass block enclosed spiral stair bridges the volumes and connects the main floor with the basement.

Gallery Space that connects Bedrooms.

In 2002, the Glass Bridge received a Renaissance Award from Remodeling Magazine; and in 2003, it received a Renovation Award from Residential Architect.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Park Hill Condominium (Week 5)

Located in Upper Northwest, Washington, DC along Connecticut Avenue, this condominium building brings a modern architectural vocabulary to an established neighborhood.

Park Hill at Dusk

Responding to the masonry apartment buildings that form the street wall along Connecticut Avenue, Park Hill’s two brick and cast stone “bookends” anchor the building. A metal and glass facade rises eight stories between these bookends, culminating in a collection of forms that comprise the penthouse, a lantern-like volume that offers commanding views of Downtown Washington, DC.

Typical Unit Interior

The building’s graduated massing preserves the streetscape, while creating twenty-nine luxury condominium units, whose free-flowing interiors and modern elements introduce a new typology of urban living.

15 Projects in 15 Weeks: Art Loft (Week 2)

Today we feature Art Loft, located in McLean, Va. This house was is a post and beam “Deck House” built in the early 1970s. The new owner loved the location of the house, but found the interior to be dark and dated with inadequate display space for her extensive art collection. Cunningham | Quill transformed the interior, remodeling its finishes and modernizing the kitchen and bathrooms.

Art Loft featured on Remodeling Magazine cover in 1997

A simple palette of white oak floors, white painted drywall and cabinets, sandblasted glass, bluestone, and new lighting complete the renovation. The new modern interpretation and finishes provides a classic, yet contemporary backdrop that highlights the client's art.

"The Gallery" of Art Loft

For a new firm, the recognition this project received meant a great deal. Art Loft not only won AIA DC's Washingtonian Residential Design Award for Distinctive Residential Architecture, but it was also featured in The Washington Post Home Section and on the cover of Remodeling Magazine after winning their award for Best Project of the Year.

Rock Creek Overlook Doesn't Overlook the Details

Located in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, DC, Rock Creek Overlook is known for its stunning views of National Rock Creek Park. In a recent article on Builder.com (Builder Magazine), Rock Creek Overlook was featured as one twelve homes thoughtfully oriented and built to enjoy the environment around it. Designed to take advantage of the site and its spectacular views, this whole-house renovation makes the most of its unique vantage point.

Second Floor Sleeping Porch

Bay Window Seating With View

To see the complete story on Builder.com, please visit Design Details: Rooms With a View. To learn more information about Rock Creek Overlook or view more images, please visit Cunningham | Quill Architects.

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.