Site Tour: City Ridge

  • Date

    Saturday, June 03 2023

  • Time

    10:00am - 12:00pm

  • Location

    City Ridge

Join us for an exclusive guided site tour of City Ridge with Shalom Baranes Associates.

City Ridge offers nearly 1.8 million square feet of mixed-use development on 10 acres in upper northwest Washington, DC. Anchored by the historic former Fannie Mae headquarters, the site includes seven new towers for residential and office use. The new pedestrian-oriented street system is lined with retail and plazas. The Great Lawn along Wisconsin Avenue was redesigned for public use.

This comprehensive tour will explore several topics: site; building envelope including various façade types; typical residential units and residential amenity areas; and mechanical systems. Planning strategies for integrating various uses will be reviewed. Plus, urban planning of a new street grid and streetscape, public vs. private space uses will be demonstrated within the overall context of the finished design. Lastly, attendees will discover sustainable design features and historic preservation strategies.

This program is part of the Sense of Place Tour Series.


Presented by Shalom Baranes Associates

During the past 40 years, Shalom Baranes Associates has designed projects that total more than eight billion dollars and 50 million square feet. As a firm, we have received over 140 design awards.

Ari Blumenthal

Ari Blumenthal, AIA—Senior Principal, Shalom Baranes Associates

Nicolas Lundstrom

Nicolas Lundstrom—Executive Associate, Shalom Baranes Associates

With Roadside Development

At Roadside, we’re committed to cultivating our communities. With our holistic, full-service approach, we bring lasting value to our developments and build properties that enrich our communities.

Robert Wolcheski—Acquisitions and Development, Roadside Development


Organized by

AIA|DC and Washington Architectural Foundation


Learning Objectives

  • Summarize zoning, entitlements, and life safety requirements for a large development related to the building design process and the regulatory approvals process. Talking points include egress and access control strategies for areas separated by program, as well as LEED implementation.
  • Recall selection and implementation strategies for MEP systems in a large mixed-use development. Talking points include system selection, space requirements and coordination, as well as project-wide vs. individual tower-oriented systems.
  • Explore residential unit design including aspects related to accessibility, acoustics, LEED, and design features for apartment buildings and commercial office buildings.
  • Identify building envelope and structure attributes as follows: detailing and construction challenges for various materials including post-tensioned concrete structure, excavation, existing foundation lowering, varying types of masonry, metal panels and precast concrete cladding will be discussed; tours of intensely used rooftops will review the integration of structure, swimming pools, terraces, green roofs, stormwater management, and wind uplift concerns.

Photo Credit

City Ridge / Photo © Maxwell MacKenzie, Architectural Photographer, Courtesy of Shalom Baranes Associates