Fentress Architects Reveals Design for Royal Norwegian Chancery on the Embassy Row of Washington, DC

Design will integrate Norway’s rich culture, history, and people into the expansion and renovation of the 1977 Chancery building, which forms part of a campus that includes the Ambassador’s residence, consulate and landscaped grounds.

Adds to the significant projects underway in Fentress Architects’ Washington, DC office, including the US Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitors Education Center, the multi-phased National Museum of the Marine Corps, and the yet-to-be-announced Federal US Courthouse in Nashville.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fentress recently received the required review and support from the Office of Foreign Mission Board of Zoning Adjustment to proceed with its design of the Royal Norwegian Chancery’s 30,000-square-foot expansion and renovation in northwest Washington, DC. The firm’s first embassy project, Fentress was selected in 2017 by Statsbygg—the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property—for its contextually-inventive design approach that will harmonize the entire Embassy of Norway campus and remain deferential to the surrounding environment. The new Chancery will act as the front door of Norway, offering a glimpse into Norwegian culture while providing a hospitable and professional environment for meetings, Consular services, and cultural exchange.

The Chancery, originally constructed in 1977, will pay homage to Norway’s rich history by focusing on architectural features that echo the country’s tradition of woodworking and shipbuilding; rich natural resources including copper, oil and gas, and fisheries; and warm hospitality. A Norwegian spruce mass timber structure with glazed walls for indoor-outdoor experience, Oppdal stone walls, a patinated copper mansard and entrance, and a restored garden linking the residence and Chancery are among the new design elements to complement the existing original fabric. Fentress’ is also upgrading the facility to be fully ADA accessible.

Quote from Steve White, Fentress Principal-in-Charge: “While providing significant functional, accessibility, and sustainability upgrades, our architecture will make Norway’s rich heritage visible on one of the most culturally significant streets in the United States and the world.”

Design Narrative
A new plaza court will graciously welcome visitors to the Embassy and Consulate. An at-grade entry will make the reception and Consulate accessible from street level, providing an approachable and welcoming entrance to the Embassy. The façade will blend architectural features with the building’s existing elements to represent a holistic fusion of contemporary architecture with neo-classical design. A curvilinear copper mansard roof will complement the building’s existing one-story rusticated limestone garden, and a roof comprised of a dynamic glue laminated timber structure will be made of Norwegian Spruce. A portal opening on the western façade will create a dignified, open, and transparent greeting and gesture of hospitality towards visitors to the Embassy. A limestone bookend on the northern end of the Embassy will create a distinctive edge between the diplomatic buildings and residential neighborhood while an expansive curtainwall system on the southern and eastern sides of the façade will maximize daylight and views to the garden with vertical wooden fins that will accentuate the curtainwall.

About Fentress Architects
Fentress Architects is a global design firm that passionately pursues the creation of sustainable and iconic architecture. Together with its clients, Fentress creates inspired design to improve the human environment, specializing in large-scale civic buildings, such as airports, convention centers and courthouses, as well as workspaces, museums and public spaces. Since its founding by Curt Fentress in 1980, the firm has designed $42 billion of architectural projects worldwide, visited by more than 550 million people each year. Fentress is a dynamic learning organization comprised of 106 professional architects, designers and staff, driven to grow its ability to design and innovate across project scales and regions of the world.  The firm has been honored with more than 550 distinctions for design excellence and innovation. Fentress has studios in Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C.; London, U.K.; and Shanghai, China. For more information visit www.fentressarchitects.com.

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