For an office building located at 1900 K Street in the heart of Washington DC's Central Business District, code restrictions limited the design options, but the architects at Cesar Pelli & Associates made the most of what they had. By elaborating on the requirements with steel, glass and slate, they were able to create some interesting design aspects.
Despite the restrictions, the building was successfully designed to attract attention to itself. "We designed an elegant and unique skin for the building, which makes it stand out from its context," said Susana La Porta Drago of Cesar Pelli & Associates. "Several elements allowed us to achieve this: the glassy proportions of the wall, the sheen of the stainless steel and the green of the stone panels. The wall design has an underlying matrix where the horizontal stone bands are balanced by a rhythm of single and double stainless steel vertical bullnoses."