LIZ, Whitman Walker 14th Street Mixed-use Development

Washington, D.C.

This new mixed-use project was co-developed by Whitman-Walker Health and Fivesquares Development. Whitman-Walker has a long history of serving the LGBTQ community and contributing to the revitalization of the 14th Street corridor and their continued presence on the site ensures continuity and support of their critical mission.

Together with executive architect CORE architecture + design, Selldorf Architects preserved and renovated two historic buildings on site, the Belmont Garage and the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, with the addition of new construction for residential, retail, office and community space comprising 150,000 sf.

The new seven story building is characterized by a limestone façade and large windows framed by an array of colorful terracotta chamfers. The angle and length of the chamfer varies to allow for consistent window sizes and limestone width on all sides of the building. The color of the chamfers is also varied to further articulate and animate the façade.

Outdoor space designed by Future Green Studios offers generous planting, seating elements, and space for public art to create a welcoming presence at the street level where retail outlets and the Elizabeth Taylor Cultural Center is located.

Whitman-Walker health and legal services, public benefits and research programs are located on the second floor, with the Goethe-Institut on the third floor. Floors four through seven are occupied by rental apartment units ranging from studios to one and two-bedrooms as well as Inclusionary Zoning Affordable Housing units.

Amenity spaces, landscaped terraces and roof gardens aligned with the building’s set-backs are found at the upper levels. The rental apartment building was officially named Liz in honor of HIV activist and actress Elizabeth Taylor whose generosity made the now-closed Whitman-Walker Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center on site a reality twenty-five years ago.

(Photography credits: Nicholas Venezia, Ron Ngiam)