Grimke School

Henry Adams provided professional mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection design services for two nearby lots. The one building includes the renovation and fit-out for the existing Grimke School located at 1923 Vermont Avenue in NW Washington, DC. The building addition will replace the existing National African American Civil War History Museum, once it moves into the new museum space within the main school building. The addition will become considered a separate building but connected to the existing school building.  The fit-out will be a four-story wood construction on grade. 

The new six-story multi-family/mixed-use condominium building is located at 912 U Street, NW in Washington DC. The building includes a first-floor retail/restaurant space and residential entrance lobby as well as 30 dwelling units.

The Grimke School Building is being constructed in two Phases. Phase 1 required the existing museum space to be kept operational.  The remaining area of the existing building was designed and renovated to be a core and shell design for the museum, cultural center, and 3-story office space.  Upon completion of the Phase 1 museum space, the existing museum space will be demolished.  

Under Phase 2, a four-story multi-family building will be constructed on the site of the existing gymnasium building/existing museum with 41 dwelling units anticipated.

For the Grimke School, the building is primarily served by a variable refrigerant system. Due to the size of the building, multiple systems were required to handle the total building cooling/heating loads. Each system includes air-cooled condensers, refrigerant piping/accessories, and indoor fan coil units. The Museum space is conditioned by an independent HVAC system. The Grimke building is LEED Gold Certified.

As for the new condominium building, the retail space was designed to provide flexibility for different tenant types (restaurant, etc.,). The space was designed as a shell space for a potential full-service restaurant. The shell space is provided with temporary heat and sprinklers.