A tale of two lobbies

Watergate | Parker Metal | On the Cover | Follow Along

What is a lobby? A place to meet? A place to wait? Yes, but it is also a prelude to the building beyond. A lobby tells the story of what is to come.

We recently finished two significant lobbies. One for the Watergate East building, which has its own two lobbies bookending the entrance to the garden beyond. The other lobby we recently finished ties together six warehouses in Baltimore that were made over into showrooms, event spaces, and offices.

Because they are preludes to what is beyond, they are wildly different in their appearances. As they should be.

Come on in.

McInturff Architects

Watergate East, Washington D.C.

North and South Lobbies

Designed by noted post-war Italian architect Luigi Moretti, the Watergate Complex design began in 1960 and construction was completed in 1971. The complex was one of Washington’s most iconic addresses even before the notorious events around the 1972 break-in.

Sited on a prominent bend in the Potomac River, the curvilinear geometry of the building takes as much from the natural river and shoreline landscape as it does from L’Enfant’s classic plan for the city.

Images by Anice Hoachlander

We sought to reconnect the lobbies to the exterior of the buildings through geometry, materials and lighting, and to bring them back to the spirit of the original detail.

Now finished, these two important lobbies are once again an extension of the fluid architectural language Moretti planned almost 60 years ago.

Parker Metal Building, Baltimore Maryland

Our client acquired five early 20th century brick warehouses on an industrial site near downtown Baltimore. The buildings once housed a metal printing and decorating plant, and were built over time, as needed, by the Parker Metal Company.

Our design begins at the curb, where a series of portals bring visitors under the freeways and to the doors. The lobby is carved out in a central location that allows all five warehouses to access one new core of elevators and stairs.