navy yard urby
completed
summer 2025
responsibilities
architecture & interior design
programme
467 apartments, 46.000 sqm
location
washington dc, us
completed
summer 2025
responsibilities
architecture & interior design
programme
467 apartments, 46.000 sqm
location
washington dc, us
dynamic scale & active streets
The ground floor is broken down into smaller shapes along all four streets, bringing a sense of human scale. It accommodates retail, an intimate residential lobby, the Urby café and a co-working salon, where each facade is uniquely articulated and responds to the local streetscape in its own way. Some of the retail spaces open directly to the courtyard to activate its outdoor terraces.
“For Urby in general, it is all about balancing urban scale with human experience. By shaping the massing around a central courtyard and articulating each street-facing facade individually, we created a building that not only responds to its diverse surroundings, but also celebrates its context, bridging the monumental presence of the stadium with the human-scaled urban rhythm of the Navy Yard.”
connecting courtyard
At the heart of the building, the green courtyard serves as both an anchor and a passage that invites the city in. Accessible from two main entrances, it creates an informal route from the stadium to the subway. With regenerative landscaping and shaded seating, the courtyard offers a quiet counterbalance to the high energy of the neighborhood.
dynamic urban context
Next to Nationals Baseball Park and the Anacostia River, in Washington DC’s Navy Yard district, the project is located within a dynamic and rapidly developing urban environment. Its massing and orientation open towards the south and west to maximize daylight while framing views of the riverfront, the ballpark, and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
high-rise community life
On the sixth floor, the form opens to create an expansive communal outdoor space for residents. It features a landscape garden, designed by Bureau Bas Smets, with barbecues and an outdoor pool deck, both with views of the stadium and the river and excellent sun exposure. A freestanding gym pavilion in a contrasting material and color adds visual interest and the illuminated rooftop of it highlights the vibrant life within the building. The sixth floor also includes an indoor garden room and a speakeasy that can be used as an event space. This layered design makes space for shared, social experiences throughout the building.
facts & figures
type multifamily residential
start design may 2019
total gross 45.860 sqm
cafe & kitchen 330 sqm
co-work salon 66 sqm
residents gym 410 sqm
retail spaces 1940 sqm
communal garden 1125 sqm
parking basement 9750 sqm
concrete
responsibilities architecture & interior design
team erikjan vermeulen, nick vullings, juliana cintra do prado mul, angela solis jara, sebastiaan kaal, beata karlsson, lisa marie etzien, charlotte middelveld, andreas rechsteiner, vivianne medeiros, cindy wouters, mark haenen, zsofia muzsnai, tobias koch
partners & collaborators
client urby, us
architect of record wdg architecture, us
cafe & study design shawn hausman design, us & core architecture + design inc, us
parlor design eliane le roux, be
landscape roof architect bureau bas smets, be
landscape courtyard architect tema urban landscape design, il
executive landscape architect landdesign, us
contractor hitt contracting, us
