LSG Landscape Architecture provided feasibility studies, master planning, design, and construction supervision for three apartment buildings on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute campus near Leesburg, Virginia.
Apartment A: 81,852-sf, 4 stories, 60 units; 61 ground level parking and 28 surface parking. Over 5 acre site. LEED for Homes Platinum.
Apartment B: 94,787-sf, 5 stories, 86 units, 55 ground-level parking and 42 surface parking. Over 11.5 acre site.
Apartment C: Over 14.5 acre site.
Apartment A: LSG provided planting design and construction administration services for the 60-unit, 4 story apartment building tucked into a manmade hillside facing an existing forested area adjacent to the campus entry drive. A contemplative outdoor terrace extends the interior social space out into the landscape, creating an ideal setting for socialization.
Apartment B: In keeping with LSG’s 2015 master plan for the Housing Village, the project includes positioning a building structure and sculpturing the 11.5-acre land to take advantage of unimpeded views of Sugarloaf Mountain across the Potomac River, buffering a southern view towards an elevated highway interchange, and restoring a predevelopment ravine with the removal of a SWM dry pond. Mirroring Apartment A, the 5-story apartment B is tucked into the opposite side of the newly created plateau and faces the historic cedar hedge and the manor house beyond. Recognizing the international composition of the campus research staff, LSG designed a central green space for casual soccer playing. An extensive trail system winds through the hills and valleys, providing an avenue to an ever-changing sense of discovery.
Apartment C: To address an increased need of campus housing and recreation, LSG prepared the third campus master plan for the western portion of the campus that includes a 6-story Apartment building C, a new gym building and associated multi-purpose field and playground, and the restoration of the historic manor house. Located to the western boundary of the “Home Lot,” Apartment C is nestled between the original home lot farm pond and an existing hedge row with unimpeded views towards Sugarloaf Mountain to north. A generous outdoor room framed by native trap rock stone walls and wooded edge provides a distinctive space for anything from socializing with colleagues over barbeque to enjoying a book underneath the bosque Gingko trees. The newly restored historic farm pond, enhanced with additional wetland planting, also attracts wildlife back to the campus.
Campus-wide design innovations include a reclaimed 11-acre construction dump site and earth berm buffers created during the excavation of 20,000 cubic yards of soil. Enhanced storm water management and extensive meadow plantings have created a lush habitat for biodiversity. A total of over 4,000 trees and whips were planted to return the land to its predevelopment glory.
