In 1999 the District of Columbia reopened G Street as a vehicular thoroughfare and in 2001 issued an RFP for the rehabilitation of the Mather Building. Cunningham I Quill Architects and PN Hoffman Development proposed a mixed-use program to accommodate the visual and performing arts, offices for cultural organizations and a mixed-income residential component that provided affordable live/work lofts to local artists as well as market-rate condominiums. The programmatic needs coalesced into a design that reintegrates the Mather Building into the streetscape and encourages twenty-four-hour traffic.

The building’s arts program, executed in conjunction with CORE Architects, includes offices for the Cultural Development Corporation (CUDC), the Gallery at Flashpoint (a community-based, nonprofit art gallery), the Meade Theater, and Coors Dance Studio (home of Sahara Dance Company), and contributes to the vitality of the area by enticing passersbys to linger on the street to observe and participate in the various cultural offerings. A metaphor for the flow of activity in the revitalizing neighborhood, the street level gallery and theater operates as a community and art space, setting an example for the successful implementation of the Arts District Overlay requirements.

2006 Catalyst Award
Washington, DC Chapter Of The American Institute Of Architects