200 Eye Street SE Renovation

Adaptive Reuse; 200 Eye Street SE Renovation; GHT Limited

By GHT Limited August 15, 2013

Engineering firm: GHT Limited
2013 MEP Giants rank:
57
Project:
200 Eye Street SE Renovation
Address:
Washington, D.C., United States
Building type:
Office
Project type:
Adaptive Reuse
Engineering services:
Electrical/Power, HVAC
Project timeline:
10/26/2009 to 11/30/2012
Engineering services budget:
N/A
MEP budget: $824,000

Challenges

200 Eye Street SE is the largest project in the District of Columbia (DC) to receive double LEED Platinum certification, earning the highest level of certification under the Core and Shell and Commercial Interiors rating systems. The evolution of the building from a long-vacant printing facility to sustainably designed office space for DC government agencies was the result of a very successful public-private partnership between developer StonebridgeCarras and the DC government. GHT Limited provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering design in partnership with the architect, Hickok Cole. The adaptive reuse of the existing base building and the tenant fit-out for the DC government agencies that occupy the facility included a complete replacement of its mechanical system. All documentation for the project was produced using Revit building information modeling (BIM) software.

Solutions

The project was open plan and open ceiling with 13-ft slab-to-slab heights over much of the project. To fulfill the client’s functional and aesthetic goals, there were many intensive working sessions to coordinate various design elements—most notably architectural and structural with mechanical. Because of the technical and design challenges involved, clear and consistent communication was required to educate the client on the design intent and confirm that it would meet the client’s needs.

The project includes a high-performance central HVAC plant; bathroom fixtures and toilets that help reduce potable water consumption by 75% per year; and a Dolphin WaterCare system, a chemical-free treatment solution that reuses discharge water and will save approximately 320,000 gal of water annually. In addition, the storm water collected through the drains is piped underground to a storage facility used by the owners of an adjacent park to supply landscape irrigation and a skating rink.