Home & Design

Learning Curve

The Beaux Arts Flagg Building, which once housed Washington’s beloved Corcoran Gallery of Art and its art school, just got a new lease on life. Now home to George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, the 1897 gem designed by Ernest Flagg has been reimagined as a state-of-the-art facility for arts education and exhibition—the first phase of a multi-tiered project spearheaded by the Washington office of architecture firm Leo A Daly.

The renovation preserves the interiors—many of which have historic designation—while creating classrooms, studios and small exhibition spaces. “The needs of training emerging 21st-century artists bear little in common with the needs of 19th-century art exhibitions,” explains senior project architect Jess Kim. “Our challenge was to reimagine these epic-scale exhibition spaces as intimate learning environments without altering the historic fabric.”

The new design elevates classrooms, most of which were housed in the basement, to the upper floors, separating them with walls that stop short of the ceiling to protect existing finishes and ensure easy removal. The building envelope has been reinforced and new mechanical and electrical systems tucked away to minimize visual impact, while pipes follow the curves of coves and moldings to blend with the architecture.

The restored second-floor rotunda remains a gallery space; it recently showcased “Forever in Your Debt,”
a massive pottery installation (pictured above) by Kelli Rae Adams that explored the cost of education in America.

Future phases will restore the building’s stone façade, lay lights and skylights.

Renovation Architecture: Leo A Daly, Washington, DC. Renovation Contractor: Whiting-Turner, Baltimore, Maryland.

You may also like:

Cafe Culture
Past Perfect
A design team creates a Shingle-style home on the site of a century-old Chevy Chase farmhouse
History Reborn
After a $211 million makeover, DC’s flagship Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library reopens
HOME&DESIGN, published bi-monthly by Homestyles Media Inc., is the premier magazine of architecture and fine interiors for the Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia region.

The company also publishes an annual H&D Sourcebook of ideas and resources for homeowners and professionals alike. H&D Chesapeake Views is published bi-annually and showcases fine home design and luxury living in and around the Chesapeake Bay.

The H&D Portfolio of 100 Top Designers spotlights the superior work of selected architects, interior designers and landscape architects in major regions of the US.

Stay Connected with HOME & DESIGN Newsletter

Copyright © 2025 Home & Design. All rights reserved. | Back to top
magnifier