MOLLY O'DONNELL JORDEN

This study of a hotel on Columbus Circle was developed in coordination with a five-day master plan esquisse to mediate the change in urban scale and provide spatial containment to the grand plaza. The French hôtel form relates to L'Enfant's plan of D.C. while the American precedent of McKim, Mead, and White's Columbia University Library inspired the grand atrium as a connector of public and private spaces. Above, a double-loaded corridor configuration provides efficient circulation and modular rooms with corner suites and views on all sides. The rooms which do not look out to the urban fabric of D.C. look into the atrium or peer down to its beautiful cupola. A ballroom on the second floor capitalizes on the views to Union Station with the option for semi-private special events. The Union hotel responds and contributes to the vernacular urbanism of Washington D.C. as significant feature of this site for the general public and private guests.