Merit Award Curb Appeal
Robert M. Gurney, FAIA Architect

Robert Gurney was tapped to put a modern spin on a 1931 Federal-style residence in Northwest DC’s Observatory Circle. He and colleague Kara McHone incorporated the home’s original brick structure into the composition, adding dynamic contemporary volumes beside and above its front façade. The additions, rising three stories, employ solid and glass planes to dramatic effect. “The project is an arrangement of simple, intersecting volumes, rendered in varied materials combining solids and voids,” explains Gurney. “A linear volume is inserted through the existing masonry shell, extending beyond and connecting the new and existing volumes.” Now painted gray, the original brick offsets stucco, mahogany and fiber-cement panels. A new, glass-enclosed front entrance lets in the light.

"A dramatic, light-filled intervention transformed this ‘brick box’ home’s presence on the street.”
—Amy Gardner, jurist

Renovation Architecture: Robert M. Gurney, FAIA; Kara McHone, project architect, Robert M. Gurney, FAIA Architect. Renovation Contractor: Steven T. McCaughan. Landscape Design: Campion Hruby Landscape Architects.