We are pleased to share the news of our most recent design award from the AIA Northern Virginia Chapter, an Award of Excellence in Historic Architecture for The Sanctuary at 819 D Street, NE. This 30-unit church-to-condo conversion project was completed in early January after over 2 years of complex entitlements and construction. Over 90% of its units are sold including the premier tower unit which set a sales record for Northeast DC since 2008.  The original 1897 Gothic Revival Church and Annex, a contributing structure in the Capitol Hill Historic District, was adaptively preserved and repurposed. The project encompasses the historic church, school annex, and two adjacent townhouses totaling nearly 35,000 square feet. Each new residential unit has a distinctive floor plan, built with a focus on maximizing original features such as exposed brick walls, arches, and ornate cast-iron columns for modern living in the historic church structure. The original stained and leaded glass windows were carefully removed and restored to retain the windows’ original grandeur while accommodating new vision glass allowing residents necessary urban views to the exterior.

Our design team and clients from the Rubin Group gathered on June 15th at the Alexandria Renew Enterprises Building to celebrate the achievements and innovations in the design of our project and others. Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit and Juror’s Citations were given to a number of outstanding projects in the institutional, commercial, residential and historic categories. We appreciate the thoughtful comments from the AIA Colorado jury members, Sarah Semple Brown, FAIA of Semple Brown, Michael C. Folwell, AIA of Studio B, and Tania Salgado, AIA of Handprint Architecture.

Bonstra | Haresign ARCHITECTS’ Sean Reidy, Colin Drumwright, Bill Bonstra, FAIA, Jenna Seybert, and Client Mimi Tygier at the Alexandria Renew Enterprises Building.