The Yale Steam Laundry Condominiums Transformation

The Yale Steal Laundry structure has a rich history and it has become a real landmark in the area. It’s located in Washington DC, USA and it has very beautiful architecture. There are lots of unique elements that make this structure so special. One of them is represented by the vaulted floor structure. Others are the oddly-spaced floor framing and the concrete and brick structure.

It’s obvious that this structure has a lot of history. The patina of time only made it more beautiful and precious. Everybody agrees that the character of the building needs to be preserved. So when John Ronan Architects were asked to work on a project involving this structure they knew it was going to be difficult.

Still, it was a unique opportunity. The project involved a series of interventions meant to preserve the existing structure of the building while also making some changes and adding some new elements.

It’s always hard to combine history with novelty and it takes a lot of planification and talent to do that. Here are some of the new elements that have been incorporated during this project. The entry, lobby, stair and exercise room got hot rolled steel plate insertions, glazed white bricks were used for the reception desks, the bridges and the stairs and the kitchen/bathroom cores were inserted into the existing shell. A plate steel wall now separates the public areas from the offices, pantry, etc and the ground floor of the annex serves both as lobby and clubroom.{found on archdaily and pics from Nathan Kirkman}.