The plaza redesign is an effort to revive its use as a public space. Some of the large hardscaped areas you see are for outdoor dining space, as JBG Smith attempts to lure another restaurant to the property. You may notice the surfaces are very slick, but that was due to the torrential downpour that occurred early last evening.
Thanks for the update photos!
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, this new plaza looks very nice. Much more open and inviting than the previous plaza, especially in the area of the pergola with the heavy plants. The new address numbers looks cool as well.
Two things that seem odd to me. The metal sculpture near the corner is very weak. The branches of the metal artwork nearly clip pedestrians, and are sure to be damaged. The idea seems very weak to me. Why create a metal tree with branches and leaves in a plaza with real trees is the same area? The previous three pieces of art were much stronger and offered a nice contrast to the plaza elements. I know that art is very subjective, but I think JBG Smith missed out on a nice opportunity to create a landmark scale artwork.
The much large problem is regarding the stepped seating in the wood deck areas. They are adjacent to normal steps, with a handrail, but is nearly invisible as you approach the seating terraces from the high side. The seating is a nice amenity, but the wood decking runs parallel to the stepped seating, so it provides no visual contrast. It would be very easy to miss seeing the stepped seating, and stumble over the edge, expecting to find more steps, but instead, ending up with some broken ribs. I predict this will happen very soon, and JBG Smith will be faced with a lawsuit for not protecting the casual stroller from taking a tumble.
The better solution would have been to include a handrail blocking the stepped seating on the high side, so folks would clearly be directed to use the adjacent stairs. I believe that this regulation is even present in the building code. Many pedestrians and even bike riders, can be distracted by lots of things, so creating an unprotected drop off into a stepped seating area is very hazardous.
JBG Smith has approved a few other poorly conceived design ideas at the 4747 building. Like the massive glass corner, poorly -laced adjacent to their loading dock, protected only by a few low bollards. A few weeks ago, a large truck backing into the dock area clipped the corner, and shattered two very massive and expensive structural glass windows. The vestibule of the office building is all glass, and adjacent to a wood open plaza area, with lots of pedestrian and bike traffic running past. Its just a matter of time before a pedestrian or cyclist on the narrow Bethesda Avenue sidewalk walk or rides into the side of the perfectly clear, unmarked vestibule. Another lawsuit waiting to happen. The entrance to the future restaurant to the right of the vestibule is located directly below an overflow roof drain that is constantly dropping water right at the entrance. A perfect place for ice to form on a cold day.