Letter
Dear Mr. Kenner:
In its meeting of 19 October, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed a revised concept submission forwarded by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development for several public spaces of the Southwest Waterfront development known as the District Wharf: the Wharf promenade, the Grove, M Street Landing, and the Terrace. The Commission members present recommended approval of the revised concept designs with the following comments.
The Commission members expressed appreciation for the responsiveness to their previous advice, such as maintaining a more consistent treatment of trees along the Wharf promenade to provide the needed continuous setting for the distinctive public spaces and buildings. They observed that the collaboration between architects and landscape architects has resulted in greatly improved designs for the public spaces. For the Terrace park, they commented that the shift in orientation of the park’s geometry and of Water Building #3 results in an effective framing of views to the water. For the M Street Landing park, they commented that the integration of the design of the Parcel 10 amphitheater and the park landscape allows this corner to form part of the threshold between public spaces.
The Commission’s consideration of the District Wharf in this meeting also included the review of Water Building 1, submitted as a private-sector proposal in accordance with the Shipstead-Luce Act. For your reference, the letter describing the review of this project is enclosed.
As a quorum was not present for the review of this submission, this recommendation will be placed on the administrative agenda for confirmation at the Commission’s next meeting. The Commission looks forward to further review of components of the District Wharf project; please consult with the staff which, as always, is available to assist you.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Brian T. Kenner
Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 317
Washington, DC 20004
Encl.: CFA letter of 27 October 2017 on Shipstead-Luce Act submission at the District Wharf
cc: Shawn Seaman, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront
Hilary Bertsch, EEK/Perkins Eastman
Paul Josey, Wolf | Josey Landscape Architects