1201 Jefferson Street: Creating a Home in Downtown DC

At 1201 Jefferson Street, the team at Soto seeks to create a natural oasis within Washington, DC. As Soto’s first condo project, 1201 Jefferson incorporates a diversity of units, unique exterior design decisions, and an overarching concept of biophilic design, which together make for high-quality long term housing for DC residents. ​

​The condominiums are located at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Jefferson Street NW, Washington DC 

The green roof is prominent within the design and gives residents of the top floor additional outdoor space for leisure and planting

The ground floor units have direct access from Georgia Ave.

The playfulness of bays throughout the building facade responds to the building typology

The condominium building will be located at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Jefferson Street NW, Washington DC. The area along Georgia Avenue NW is a mixed-use development corridor zone, which has inspired a number of recent redevelopments. 1201 Jefferson is actually in close proximity to the Todd A Lee Senior Residences, another one of Soto’s projects. 1201 Jefferson is composed of 47 units in total; 2 studios, 26 one-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom, and 3 three-bedroom units. Among these 47 units, 12 are duplex units. Four will be sold at 80% Area Median Income (AMI), and one at 50% AMI in response to DC’s Inclusionary Zoning Program. This program incentivizes developers to build affordable units by providing them with bonus density throughout the building footprint. 

The design of the Condos at 1201 Jefferson incorporates aspects of biophilic and green design. The sustainable design decisions throughout this project follow DC Energy Conservation and Green Construction Codes. Among the electives chosen within the codes are building within an infill site, providing bike parking and long term storage onsite, as well as utilizing EnergyStar appliances and equipment. One of the most prominent features in the design is the incorporation of both an intensive and extensive green roof system and rooftop patio spaces. 

Pedro Camargo, Project Coordinator at Soto, remarks that “to make the units feel more like home, one of the goals was to provide as many units as possible with direct access to the outdoors. By incorporating built-in planters at the balconies and roof decks, we allow residents to create their own little gardens while bringing greenery and vibrance into the architecture and into the neighborhood.” The exterior of the building also incorporates two bioretention areas; one within the courtyard and another at the corner of Jefferson Street and Georgia Avenue. The team has also planned for multiple vertical green screens and native plant landscaping. "Each unit either has a balcony with a built-in planter box, a juliet balcony, or a rooftop patio with planters in order to connect residents with the outdoors. In addition, every unit at the cellar level is given access to private area-ways with plenty of room to hangout outside."

The concept of biophilia is most evident throughout the building’s interior. Once residents walk into the main lobby from Jefferson Avenue, an indoor fireplace and water wall feature welcomes them with calming elements. Natural materials such as wood, concrete, stone, and vegetation can be seen throughout various spaces as well. Joe Iwaskiw, Associate at Soto and member of the project team, expresses that designing with these materials gives a sense of wellness to the spaces, which is essential for the condos at 1201 Jefferson. “The party room has a trellis hanging from the ceiling with a number of plants draping down; the gym utilizes planters hanging from the exposed concrete ceiling; and the corridors use Nevins Bio Canvases [a no-maintenance, natural material] which residents choose from to mark their individual apartments. We want the condos to feel like a home to the residents. A number of these green features combine to create an oasis in the city so that residents don’t have to sacrifice their connection to nature simply because they live in an urban environment.”

The team at Soto worked with the developer, District Properties, to make a number of unique design decisions throughout the building as well. In order to meet the parking requirement, an automated parking system was employed through CityLift. This automated grid-system fits three levels of parking stacked using only 20' of height, giving the first level of the condominium a ceiling height of 14 feet. This height allows for a grand entry and lobby space, while also creating two studio units with mezzanines on the first level and three two-story duplex units between the cellar and first levels, with lots of natural light.

“These five units on the ground floor gave our team the opportunity to activate the street by providing direct access from Georgia Avenue,” explains Pedro. There are also nine penthouse duplexes most of which are unique, and all with rooftop decks. The team took advantage of the extra square footage that would have been used for the corridor and allotted it to the duplex units. 

The building facade makes use of durable, natural materials such as brick and thermally modified timber siding that ties in with the biophilic theme as well as a playfulness of balconies and bays, which respond to the building typology with a similar scale to many townhomes in DC. Pedro remarks that “the building’s form and style really come together and strive to provide tenants with not only premium housing, exterior spaces, and quality finishes, but a connection to nature atypical of an urban environment.” The building elevations are broken into bays, which brings the sense of scale of the building closer to the low-density residential feel of the neighborhood. These unique design decisions, partnered with the overarching concept of sustainable design, leaves the team excited for the start of construction this coming Fall. The Condos at 1201 Jefferson are sure to be a place residents can call home.

Written by Schola Eburuoh, NOMAS, Student Intern