The eight-story, 90-foot-tall office building at 888 16th Street NW, within sight of the White House, was constructed around 1968 in the Brutalist style — marked by a six-story block composed of precast concrete and deeply recessed windows. Rugo Stone was engaged by design firm Gensler very early in the design process to identify the proper stone materials for the exterior re-cladding of the precast facade.
Rugo conducted extensive research on affordable and structurally reliable limestone materials for the upper floors. Rugo identified six materials, one of which was accepted by the client after Rugo completed all of the ASTM stone physical property stone and anchorage testing. Rugo designed a unique supplemental stainless steel framing system to fur out the wall cavity and create a system of blind anchors to support the new stone cladding, which had exposed stone edges and would not allow for edge anchorage of the stone. Rugo furnished and installed over 40,000 sqft of limestone and granite cladding, granite site work, and an elegant marble and travertine lobby.
Location: Washington, DC
Completion: 2020
Owner: Tramell Crow
Architect: Gensler
General Contractor: Clark Construction
Size: 42,000 sqft
Services: Design, fabricate, and install new limestone and granite façade and marble