South of Market Office & Retail Complex - Reston, VA
Pivotal to this project’s success was the creation of an exterior appearance that related to the elegant East Coast setting while also breaking new ground in contemporary design. This mixed retail and office development of two 10-story towers and one 6-story tower responds well to its environment through the choice of deep-sandstone-colored thin-brick veneer in the exterior precast concrete panels. Further rooting the building in its environment is the use of an aluminum-clad precast concrete panel roof overhang that brings a Prairie-style charm to the structure and subtly emphasizes the expressed horizontals in the thin-brick exterior precast concrete panels.
Although all three buildings share a ground level and a two-story underground parking garage, through the use of a varied pattern of architectural precast concrete pieces and glass, the architect was able to create the appearance of three separate buildings, further allowing the structure to integrate well with its environment. With the building’s unique precast concrete exterior, the project has been able to reach near-full occupancy, far outpacing the broader area.
Architect: SmithGroup, Washington, DC
Precast Contractor: High Concrete Group LLC, Denver, PA
Awards: 2009 PCI Award – Best Retail/Mixed-Use Building
