Building Statistics Part 1

GENERAL BUILDING DATA

Building Name: Arena Stage: Renovation and Expansion
Location: 1101 6th Street, SW, Washington, DC  20024
Building Occupant: Washington Drama Society Inc. (Arena Stage)
Occupancy Type: Performing Arts Center
Size: 200,000 SF
Number of Stories: (3) Above Grade, (1) Below Grade


Primary Project Team:

Dates of Construction: January 2008 – June 2010
Building Cost: $125 million (Overall Project Cost)
Delivery Method: Cost Plus Fee with a GMP

ARCHITECTURE

Arena Stage was originally founded in 1950 and has served as a cultural landmark of the community ever since.  Located at the corner of Main Avenue and 6th Street SW, it sits near prime waterfront property.  In joining the effort to restore the image of Southwest Washington, Arena Stage is renovating its two existing theaters, the Fichandler and the Kreeger, and building a brand new theater called the Cradle.

The Fichandler, a 816-seat theater-in-the-round, was built in 1960 and is the most well known icon of Arena Stage.  Although its size is being reduced to 650 seats, it will be fully restored and enhanced with new acoustical features, technical equipment, and elegant décor.  The 514-seat Kreeger, built in 1971, will also be fully updated and receive state of the art technology and new amenities.  Its thrust stage and fan-shaped house will also receive a new glass scrim that will light it at the center of the complex.  The new 200-seat Cradle will be an intimate, black-box theater.  A set of concrete, spiral walls are angled together to contain the theater, which will be used primarily for experimental work and new plays.

These three theaters not only share a common lobby and a grand staircase, but they are being brought together as one behind a 45-foot glass curtain wall supported by large, round parallam wood columns.  The glass façade provides a way to “expose the outside to the inside and the inside to the outside (http://www.bingthomarchitects.com/).”  Undoubtedly, the most notable architectural feature is the 150-foot cantilever roof that points toward the Washington Monument in honor of the city’s orienting axis.

The design was approved in 2003 and again in 2007 by the Commission of Fine Arts.

Major National Codes:

By Locke MacKinnon Domingo Gibson & Associates Ltd.
BOCA 1996
Variance and Modifications issued by Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs (DCRA)

Zoning:

W-1: Waterfront District
Low density mixed residential-commercial
Approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustments in 2003

Historical Requirements:

Listed in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites
Although the building is not old enough to be considered historic, Arena Stage holds significant value within the community and, for this reason, is being retained as a historic landmark.

Building Envelope:

The exterior façade of the building is a glazed curtain wall supported by composite Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) back-up systems for the Timber-Backed Façade including:

• 3/4” to 5/8” minimum thickness laminated monolithic glass with aluminum frame and stainless steel supports

• PSL mullion

• PSL outrigger support arms with metal connections

• PSL muntins with metal transom

• Tension Cables connecting at the roof and floor slabs

The roof is a key design feature of Arena Stage.  Serving as the focal point of the building, a 150-foot metal cantilever forms the mass of the roof.  It protrudes off the building, running parallel to Main Avenue.  The roof trusses are cold-formed steel framing and the following Roofing Types are being implemented:

• RT1 – SBS-Modified Bituminous Membrane Roofing on metal deck with Acoustical Gravel Ballast (Main Roof)

• RT2 – SBS-Modified Bituminous Membrane Roofing on metal deck

• RT3 - SBS-Modified Bituminous Membrane Roofing on concrete topping over metal deck

• RT4 – Hot Rubberized Asphalt Protected Roofing Membrane System on Concrete Slab with Roof Paver Ballast (Back of House Cooling Tower & Promenade Terrace)

• RT5 – Hot Rubberized Asphalt Protected Roofing Membrane System on Concrete Topping over Metal Deck with Paver/Gravel Ballast

• RT6 – fully adhered fabric reinforced TPO sheet membrane roofing system