Hyde Gym Designs Made Public

Last night at St. John’s, representatives of the DC Department of General Services presented more detailed plans for the most recent version for the planned expansion of Hyde-Addison School. The city has been planning the expansion for years, and these plans appear to be the closest to the final ones that the neighborhood has seen yet.

The primary reason the expansion is that the school completely lacks a gym. It has no space large enough to contain the entire school population in one room. It has a cafeteria and library, but both are insufficient. Finally, it doesn’t have enough classroom space to accommodate the growth the school is anticipating.

The plan has evolved dramatically. Back in June, the idea was that to preserve the outdoor space, the entire building would have to be built underground. While this was an intriguing design, ultimately the Old Georgetown Board rejected it.

Since then the OGB has approved the modified massing of the project (i.e. the general size and shape). It will be an above-ground building located between the Hyde and Addison buildings. The gym, though, would be buried mostly under the playground. You can see the footprint of the project above, showing the gym.

Most of this was already known before last night. What last night revealed was what the new building would actually look like. And here it is:

It’s sort of hard to see (thanks to GM’s cell phone camera), but the general design is a box with textured terra cotta walls punched through with repeating windows. To get a sense of the “feel” of the design, think of the Tenleytown library:

Here’s another picture:

This is from the O St. entrance to the playground. It shows two options for how to arrange the terra cotta panels. On the left is a more regular split between panel and window, which is meant to echo the Addison building’s facade. On the right is a slightly more irregular pattern, meant to echo Hyde’s facade.

Now you might be saying “why not build a traditional style building?” And the answer is that up and down the preservation field, professionals insist that brand new buildings in historic districts need to look brand new. The idea is that to mimic the original buildings diminishes the authenticity of both. Quibble with this rationale all you want, but the people who make the final decision (OGB and the Commission of Fine Arts) accept it fully.

GM was at the meeting with his (surprisingly well behaved) daughter, so he had to leave before the crowd of neighbors and parents could weigh in. Personally, GM is fine with it. The roof line is a little abrupt, and sould perhaps use some softening, but as for the general design, he’s ok with it. Frankly, he just wants it built before that daughter starts attending.