Ten years ago, understanding that the existing FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue NW was rapidly deteriorating and its size and configuration could no longer serve the evolving needs of the agency, advocates for the demolition of the structure and its replacement with a vibrant new mixed-use development could be easily forgiven. With its impenetrable ground floor, the building does create a whale of a black hole on the avenue, and its looming cantilevers have made it one of the less lovable examples of Brutalism.
Today, however, as the environmental costs of construction and demolition activities have become clearer and the relationship between embodied carbon and climate change more quantifiable, no universe exists where one could possibly justify the demolition of the existing building. The seemingly infinite list of the building’s failures related to corroding pipes and ducts, failing electrical systems, leaky windows, spalling concrete and cascading façades are all ailments…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
