Studio

2022

Finally, we have the office warming party at the Southern Building. We couple the celebration with an announcement that we are opening a second office in Raleigh in October. (I hope it takes us less than eighteen months to pull together the Raleigh office warming party.)    

• AIA National Housing Award for Architecture; The Aya
• AIA DC Award for Excellence in Interior Architecture; Two Rivers

2021

Greenhouse, our mixed-use project in Durham, starts construction with a substantial completion milestone scheduled for the latter half of 2023. The Studio also begins renovating a National Historic Landmark structure at Howard University this year. National Historical Landmarks are buildings the U.S. Secretary of the Interior has designated as structures of national significance to American history and culture. The Miner Teachers School earned its landmark designation as a building contributing to the advancement of African Americans throughout history.

• Residential Magazine Merit Award in Affordable Housing, The Aya
• Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award, The Aya
• 12th Yuanye Cup International Architecture Award, Two Rivers
• VA ASLA Award of Merit, Alethia Tanner Park

2020

Join the office warming party after the pandemic (to be determined) as we move to a new space in the historic Beaux Arts Southern Building designed by architect Daniel H. Burnham, located at 805 15th Street NW.

• DC Preservation League | District of Columbia Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation; Chapman Stables
• Washingtonian AIA|DC, Distinctive Residential Architecture; Mid Century Modern House
• Washingtonian AIA|DC, Distinctive Residential Architecture - Multifamily Housing; The Aya

2019

The office is currently designing over $200 million in construction work. We realize 2020 is going to involve a lot of Construction Administration Work.

• AIA VA | Honor Award for Excellence in Residential Architecture, Mid Century Modern House
• AIA VA | Honor Award for Excellence in Residential Architecture, Historic Chapman Stables
• AIA DC | Washingtonian Award, Historic Chapman Stables

2018

Chapman Stables opens, a one hundred fourteen-unit adaptive reuse project rooted in the history of Truxton Circle. This once coal yard and horse stable is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Look for the Chapman Stables Fragment in fall 2020.

• AIA National COTE Top Ten Award, Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School
• AIA DC | Award of Excellence, Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School
• AIA DC | Award of Excellence, Achievement Preparatory Academy
• AIA DC | Award of Merit, Union Station Bus Deck Pavilions

2017

Women now outnumber men in the Studio. It does not seem like we are going back.

• AIA DC | Presidential Citation for Universal Design; Wood Cloud; Gallaudet University
• AIA Virginia, Excellence in Architecture Merit Award, Achievement Preparatory Academy

2016

Second and third AIA VA and AIA DC awards are received for work at Chapman Stables and the Mid-Century Modern House.

• AIA-CAE Education Facility Design Award, Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School
• SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for Building Additions or Adaptive Reuse Merit Award, Gallaudet University STM Laboratory Renovation and Expansion
• ArchDaily 100 Top Projects, Union Station Bus Deck Pavilions
• AIA Virginia, Excellence in Architecture Merit Award, Mundo Verde School
• AIA Virginia, Excellence in Architecture Merit Award, Gallaudet STM

2015

We travel to Atlanta to pick up our first National AIA Housing Design Award for La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing in Washington DC. It also wins an award from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

• AIA National Housing Award for Architecture; La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing
• Residential Architect Magazine Design Award; La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing
• Urban Land Institute Excellence in Institutional Development Award; Easter Seals Child Development Center
• AIA DC | Washingtonian Award of Excellence; La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing
• AIA Virginia Society Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture; La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing
• AIA MD Award for Excellence in Design; La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing

2014

We finished construction on La Casa, our first ground-up public housing project.

• AIA Virginia Society Merit Award for Excellence in Interior Design; Gallaudet University Residence Hall Renovations
• AIA Virginia Society Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture; Union Station Bus Terminal
• AIA Virginia Society Inform Award, Object Award Category; Gallaudet University Residence Hall Renovations
• AIA DC Presidential Citation for Universal Design; Gallaudet University Residence Hall Renovations
• Remodeling Magazine Grand Award Winner, Universal Design; Gallaudet University Residence Hall Renovations
• Remodeling Magazine Grand Award Winner, Green Remodeling; +2edison7 Residence

2013

The Pavilions at Union Station offer an opportunity to design and construct a pavilion with a merged ovoid geometry. We have a small, less than three hundred-thousand-dollar budget, so we enlist a shipbuilder from North Carolina to construct the fiberglass design. It is delivered in one piece on a flatbed truck.

• AIA Virginia Society Merit Award for Residential Architecture; Ocean Walk
• AIA DC Presidential Citation in Sustainable Design; +2edison7
• DESIGNArlington Award; +2edison7
• Home & Design Magazine Designer's Choice Award

2012

We catch the recession's end, and while there are no layoffs, we are reminded that architecture is an "up and down" business. We start to add university work to our educational portfolio. We begin a series of pamphlet publications called "Fragments."

• AIA Washington DC, Award of Merit in Interior Architecture; Design Army Headquarters
• AIA Virginia Society, Award of Honor for Design Excellence; Design Army Headquarters
• AIA Washington DC/Washingtonian Magazine, Residential Design Award; Rincon|Bates House

2011

The Studio publishes a book on Southwest DC entitled "(A)Mending L'Enfant's Plan." The two hundred fifteen-page illustrated publication provides a comprehensive history of urban development in this quadrant, from the introduction of L'Enfant's plan in 1791 to the opening of Nationals' Stadium in 2008. The document traces Studio TwentySeven Architecture's research into the evolution of Southwest DC using the metaphor of Haute Couture (French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking"). The book's final chapter introduces specific architectural interventions to reconnect the quadrant to the rest of the city. Those new interventions include a ferry terminal along the mouth of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and the return of Fort McNair to the public domain.

• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Rincon|Bates House
• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Mosaica Academy
• AIA Virginia Society, Inform Award; Rincon|Bates House
• Residential Architect, Design Award; Suliman House
• Washington City Paper, Best of DC 2011 Reader Poll, Best New Venue; Artisphere
• Urban Turf, Best Renovation by a Local Firm; Rincon|Bates House

2010

The Studio outgrows our space on the second floor at the corner of Sixteenth and K Streets NW. We relocate upstairs. The new top-floor corner office has admirable views of downtown, windows on three sides of the vast open space, and a private shower. (Everyone soon realizes the new laser cutter operates at 90 decibels.)

• AIA Washington DC, Merit Award in Architecture; Rincon|Bates House
• Remodeling Design Awards, Project of the Year; Rincon|Bates House

2009

Studio Twenty Seven Architecture, along with our friends at Design Army, win a national design competition to work as design architects and artists on the design and construction of the "Artisphere” in Arlington.

• AIA Washington DC, Design Excellence Award; KIPP DC: KEY Academy (Benning Road Campus)
• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Watershack
• AIA Washington DC, Unbuilt Awards for Merit in Design; Reconceptualizing Southwest DC
• AIA Virginia Society, Inform Award for Merit in Design; Capitol Hill Library Projects

2008

Our projects face significant funding challenges as bank lending freezes during the recession. We work with clients to repurpose and redefine project scope and maneuver around rapidly changing financial constraints.

• Washington Spaces Magazine, Best of Kitchen Spaces; Spratt|Rogers Residence

2007

The projects get more prominent, and the Studio gets bigger. We start a large school for a local non-profit.

• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Fire Island Residence
• AIA Virginia Society, Inform Award for Excellence in Design; WUBU Residence
• USGBC James River Chapter, Go Green: Merit Award; Monarc Construction, Inc.
• Pro Bono Publico Award, WAF; Capitol Hill Libraries Project
• John Weibenson Award for Architecture in the Public Interest
• Builder Magazine, Builders Choice Awards; WUBU Residence

2006

Many of our projects require presentations to the Commission of Fine Arts. Commission member comments are insightful and reinforce the enjoyment of working on community-based projects.

• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Salvaggio Residence
• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Suliman Residence
• AIA Washington DC, Merit Award in Interior Architecture; Salvaggio Residence
• AIA Washington DC/Washingtonian Magazine, Residential Design Award; Unit Derwin

2005

Fire Island Residence is a summer beach house in the resort community of Pines on Fire Island. This house inserts some of the "spirits of the shore" into a "Yankee thriftiness" residential typology.

• AIA Washington DC/Washingtonian Magazine, Residential Award; HUIS-JCMZ

2004

We are working on the new Design Army office space and finding a new client and collaborator.

• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Regenerative Rowhouse
• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Nusonian Home Prototypes
• AIA Virginia Society, Inform Award for Excellence in Design; HUIS-JCMZ
• AIA Potomac Valley, Merit Award for Architecture; HUIS-JCMZ
• EPA Green Building Design Competition for New York City; Regenerative Rowhouse
• ABC Metro DC and VA Excellence in Construction; HUIS-JCMZ

2003

The attic fits four people, maybe, and we need space for at least seven desks. We are fortunate to relocate to a new area two blocks from the White House. It is four times the size of the attic, but the neighbor down the street takes thirty cars every time he goes out to dinner.

• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; Georgetown Day School
• AIA National Young Architects Award; Ronald Todd Ray
• AIA Washington DC/Washingtonian Magazine, Residential Award; 1136 + 1167 Condo Combo
• AIA Washington DC/Washingtonian Magazine, Residential Award; Unit 303

2002

We are very proud of a new house project we completed called Huiz JCMZ. We work very closely with the client, a Rhodes Scholar and Dutch ex-pat with an encyclopedic knowledge of modern pavilions throughout Europe. The completed house is better than we would have accomplished alone. This confirms our opinion that a collaborative design process yields the best results.

• AIA Northern Virginia, Unbuilt Design Award of Merit; 1136 + 1167 Condo Combo
• AIA Washington DC, Merit Award in Interior Architecture; Unit 303
• Maryland Governor's Office of Smart Growth, Public Outreach Award; Town of La Plata, Emergency Design Charrette (with the Washington Architectural Foundation)

2001

Attracted by cramped working conditions and long hours, talented young people started to join the Studio, Hans from Dresden, Lukas, the Son of Rodney, and Brian, a slayer of fax machines.

• AIA Virginia Society, Excellence in Architecture; HUIS-JCMZ
• AIA Potomac Valley, Merit Award for Architecture; Anderson-Pettitt Residence
• NARI, CoTY Award for Excellence; Anderson-Pettitt Residence
• Builder Magazine, Special Focus Award; Anderson-Pettitt Residence

2000

An opportunity to move out of the basement appears. Very affordable rent if we agree to renovate the attic space in the nineteenth-century rowhouse where the AIA | DC Chapter is located. Our general contractor friend quickly loses interest in the project, so we spend weekdays drawing and weekends building out attic space.

• AIA Northern Virginia, Design Award for Excellence; 1136 + 1167 Condo Combo

1999

It is getting to be too much work to be a part-time job. Time to set up desks in a basement, buy a pen plotter, and a four hundred pound "used" Xerox machine that does not work.

1998

This business is just a side hustle. The local AIA Chapter starts to take notice of the work. One of our clients works in the White House. We hear what the President and Hillary's mom think of our latest designs.

• AIA Northern Virginia, Design Award for Excellence; Loveladies Lot 93

1997

Your father-in-law wants a new beach house. He has no money for design fees and one hundred fifty thousand dollars as a construction budget. We take the job.

• AIA Northern Virginia, Young Architect Merit Award; Bolbach Residence
• AIA Northern Virginia, Young Architect Merit Award; House for Parcel X