Of the 162 buildings featured in the 2003 book “Best Addresses: A Century of Washington’s Distinguished Apartment Houses,” one in particular caught the eye of a real estate professional, a past client of Colleen Healey, AIA. He knew he would soon want the amenities, reduced maintenance, and single-story floor plan of apartment living, and the six-story 1965 structure in northwest Washington, D.C., looked ideal. When a penthouse unit became available, the owner closed the deal and reached out again to Colleen and her namesake architecture firm to refresh the interiors.
Atrium Alterations
The 1,500-square-foot apartment was one of two remaining in the building to have intact an unusual feature: a private, open-air courtyard atrium enclosed by glass walls and sliding doors. Over time, the other 14 penthouse unit owners had covered their atriums, many with a gable glass roof that gained them a greenhouse but also a lot of solar heat.
Despite the courtyard atrium’s character, its energy inefficiency, upkeep, and placement conflicted with the carefree and accessible environment the owner wanted. Situated just inside the apartment’s double-door entry, the glass box interrupted sight lines between the kitchen in the northeast corner and the living room and dining room to the west.
However, Colleen largely had to “keep everything where it was,” since the building’s historic nature and multifamily use would not easily allow for relocating ventilation stacks, pipelines, and ductwork. Instead, she adopted an approach of “erasing” the atrium’s footprint while embracing the 13-foot-by-11-foot ceiling opening left behind.
From the building’s structural drawings, Colleen knew the vertical supports at the atrium’s four corners needed to stay. However, letting each column stand exposed “would feel too referential,” a constant reminder of the atrium that was. She encased the two northern columns into the ends of interior wall buildouts that now flank a feature wall. The southeast column remained embedded in a partition wall between the kitchen and entry. The remaining steel column was painted white and clad in white oak panels to warm the interior.
For the ceiling opening itself, Colleen initially envisioned popping straight up with a glazed rectangular tower. But the structure would be visible from the neighboring apartment’s gabled pop-up to the north, obstructing its views and daylight access. Colleen switched to a single-sloped structure with a central skylight and base of rectangular and triangular clerestory windows. The assembly tapers up from the building’s flat roof to a height of 4 feet to the south—out of sight of the neighbor yet still a source of prolific daylight and views.
The skylight contractor assembled the pop-up frame and roof as one unit on-site. Inside, the design team detailed the clerestory mullions to be trimmed in drywall tight against the glazing. The result is arguably as captivating as the former glass atrium.
Floor Plan Fixes
With the newly open floor plan, Colleen could now tweak the apartment layout to her client’s needs. “We felt that the living room was most important in that space,” she says. She relocated it from the unit perimeter to the prime real estate under the skylight, between the kitchen and formal dining area. This shift freed up space along the northwestern wall to add an office beside the existing library.
In the primary bathroom, Colleen removed a second sink and annexed a former powder room. “People want a little bit larger bathrooms than when the building was originally built,” she notes.
The apartment’s concrete roof deck meant that ceiling-mounted light fixture locations were predetermined—introducing soffits would only further compress the apartment’s 8-foot, 2-inch height. In areas needing additional lighting, such as the relocated living room, the project team built out slender chases on wall surfaces to accommodate new wiring. A reveal in the ceiling outlining the former atrium enables the addition of suspended cylinder luminaires above the living room sofa. In the dining area, wiring for a belted black pendant and future track lighting tucks into what could pass as minimalist crown molding.
A Case for Storage
The neutral color palette for the apartment walls and flooring provides a quiet backdrop for the bold and bright colors of its Modern furnishings and artwork. Colleen meticulously ensured that the bleached white oak engineered wood flooring would match to the extent possible the white oak veneer of custom millwork and floating shelves throughout the living areas. Balancing the ratio of open shelving to closed cabinetry ensured the copious storage did not visually overwhelm the space; and the pieces’ clean lines and consistent detailing helped.
“There’s not a lot of width across this unit,” Colleen admits, “but storage drawers, bookshelves, and display space were high priorities for the owner.” A variety of leather pulls and handles provides a soft and pliable contrast to the millwork’s wood construction.
Since the project’s completion in late 2023, about a year after Colleen Healey Architecture began design, the owner is spending more time in his beloved apartment. Colleen recalls a remark from one of her builders that encapsulates her team’s objective of making the most of existing spaces and their associated constraints: “We are temporary caretakers of these buildings. Our job is to take care of them for the next 100 years until someone touches them again.”
Right: Built as an integrated skylight and window assembly, the apartment’s single-slope roof structure stays out of view of the neighboring unit’s skylights.
Atrium Apartment
Washington, D.C.
Architect: Colleen Healey, AIA, architect; Casey Meyer, project staff, Colleen Healey Architecture, Washington, D.C.
Builder: Owner subcontracted
Home control systems: Craig Kiker, Powerhouse, Silver Spring, Maryland
Lighting design consultant: Illuminations, Washington
Millwork: Mersoa Woodwork and Design, North Bethesda, Maryland
Project size: 1,500 square feet
Construction cost: Withheld
Photography: Jennifer Hughes Photography
Key Products
Acoustical wall insulation: Rockwool Roxul
Appliances: BlueStar (range and oven); Zephyr (ventilation hood); Bosch (dishwasher); Fisher & Paykel (refrigerator)
Countertop: Caesarstone
Faucets: Newport Brass (kitchen); Waterworks (shower and secondary bathroom)
Flooring: Engineered white oak hardwood with cork underlayment
Hardware, cabinetry: Blum
Lighting controls: Lutron
Lighting, interior: Buschfeld Design, Davide Groppi, Luminii, Vibia
Paint, interior: Benjamin Moore Super White
Sinks: Waterworks (kitchen); Kohler (primary and secondary bathrooms)
Skylight and roof windows: VELUX
Toilet: TOTO (primary bathroom)
Vanities and pedestal lavatory: Mersoa Woodwork and Design
Window shading systems: Rockville Interiors
Window wall systems: TruExterior (formerly Boral)