Signal House, Carr Properties’ 11-story future office development in the growing Union Market neighborhood of Northeast Washington, D.C. was awarded a Gensler Design Excellence Award (GDEA) in the Workplace: Unbuilt category, having been selected out of 107 projects from across the firm’s global portfolio at the end of 2018. This property design celebrates the former heritage of the historic neighborhood with a modern design that perfectly complements the industrial surroundings. The design has a foot in the two worlds of mercantile history and invention much like Samuel Morse –the namesake of the property’s street address and the inspiration of the Signal House name.
Commenting on the award, Carr Properties’ CEO, Oliver Carr stated, “We’re excited to partner with Gensler to bring a new wave of office development to the historic Union Market neighborhood. Signal House will be a great addition of a high quality, creative office project to the area’s flourishing retail and residential developments.”
Speaking on behalf on Gensler, Jeff Barber, Global Design Experience Leader and Principal at Gensler added, “We are proud to work in partnership with Carr Properties on such a pioneering office development in the exciting Union Market neighborhood. While designed as a speculative office building, Signal House offers the presence and generosity of a build-to-suit and will serve as a noteworthy home for the creative community and like-minded companies.”
Each year, Gensler hosts the GDEA, an internal award designed to recognize and celebrate the firm’s outstanding work during the previous year. Hundreds of projects are reviewed each year from Gensler’s over 10,000 active project inventories worldwide, and only a small selection move forward to the GDEAs program. This year’s jury included Erin Lavin Cabonargi, Sterling Bay; Patti Cazzato, Timbuk2; Dan Howarth, Dezeen; Chris Smith, Ernst & Young; Karen Stein, SVA Design Research; Ed Soltero, Arizona State University; and Patricia Urquiola, PatriciaUrquiola.com. Congratulations to the winning team including Jeff Barber, Pierce Fisher, Francisco Gonzalez, Steven Joswick, Claire Kang, Kate Kirkpatrick, Jason Klem, Andrew Kobalka, Jillian Tillery, Chris White. Signal House is scheduled to deliver in 2021.