The Project
An existing mid-20th century pier on the Washington Channel of the Potomac River was converted into Class A office space. It is the Washington headquarters and main cruise depot for Entertainment Cruises, which provides water-based tours of Washington, DC.
Structural features
The pier is a robust cast-in-place concrete pier supported on concrete pile caps and 1,100 timber piles. A cast-in-place concrete roof structure/canopy provided the original cover. Part of the conversion involved adding a two-story steel-framed structure above the canopy.
Design challenges included developing a lateral resisting system for both earthquake and wind loads that did not overload the concrete pier or wood piles. By using steel moment frames combined with one-story braced frames and shearwalls, lateral loads were distributed across the pier eliminating pier reinforcement. The building features green roof, an elevator with the pit cut into the existing pier, and stepped steel structure cantilevered with moment connections to create column free exterior terraces and roof overhangs. Floodproofing measures were incorporated into the design to counter the rising tides at its Potomac River location. The project scope also included renovations to the existing head house including adding a new interior stair, reconfiguring bearing walls, and adding bike storage.
