2501 M Street Condominiums
2501 M Street was envisioned to appeal to the affluent, sophisticated, and urbane buyer who would choose DC’s West End neighborhood as their own. Working in tandem with the project’s base-building architect (Core Architects, Guy Martin, Principal.), the design language was refined to a high level of materiality, but with a quiet, elegant, and restrained design. Luxury would be inferred, instead, by chosen materials and artful simplicity. Because 2501 M would be created from an existing structure with three occupied floors and five floors converted from office space. Because of the building’s previous use, we had to gut the portion of the existing space that would be re-envisioned for the project. It was necessary for us to create a cohesive set of spaces that were expansive and roomy, despite existing limitations. The existing structure featured 7’-3” low ceilings, with beams cutting across public spaces, and an overall cramped nature that we had to overcome. Initially, we confronted a half-basement, half-submerged space, to be transformed into a first-level feeling that felt complete and unconstrained by any of the pre-existing building conditions. We employed hidden-source lighting to alleviate the darkness inherent in half-basement spaces. We chose natural tones for the palette: river rock tones, soft mossy greens, warm bark-tone browns, and beige colors, which are warm gray and beige tones found in nature. The result is a feeling of hushed elegance that is not splashy; everything reveals tasteful sensibilities without a hint of ostentation.
Photography: Neill Archer Roan
