The Design of New Jail in Hill East
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 11, 2025
Design team rendering of the new DC Jail at 1900 Massachusetts Avenue, SE.
Last Thursday night, Meridith Moldenhauer, Zoning Counsel for the DC Correctional Treatment Facility Project, presented current renderings of the new jail being built in Hill East to ANC6B’s Planning and Zoning Committee, chaired by Commissioner Vince Mareino. The new jail is in Ward 7, but Ward Six and ANC6B border Ward 7 so it has a say in how the new jail will affect the Ward 6 community. The correctional campus is located at 1900 Massachusetts Avenue, SE.
Moldenhauer’s task was to present a request for zoning waivers having to do with the setback from the property line and use of materials on the exterior façade of the structure.
This rendering shows the main entrance to the institution on Massachusetts Avenue. The renderings in Moldenhauer’s PowerPoint presentation included here are those presented to the Zoning Commission in preparation for a hearing on the project’s design and zoning changes scheduled for March 17. But those drawings from the design team of CGL Companies, CORE architecture + design and Neoscape, Inc., are currently being revised in response to a critical review by the DC Commission on Fine Arts (CFA) last November.
CFA was critical of the design for not fitting well enough into the neighborhood (specifically the materials of the exterior) and for looking too much like a carceral institution.
Currently, the façade has three layers – a security barrier, an opaque window wall system, with the exterior covered by a decorative perforated screen or “scrim” of pre-weathered Corten steel panels. Moldenhauer said the intent was to make the façade look like “leaves and trees with a ‘scrim’ over the top.” One of the critiques from CFA was that the Coren steel might darken over time presenting a more threatening visage to the community.
Here’s a schematic of the footprint of the new structures. What will emerge on the opposite side of Massachusetts Avenue remains to be seen, since that will be up to private developers.
The timeline for the project anticipates construction beginning in 2027 and completion in 2034. So far, only the first phase of the project has been funded by the Mayor’s budget, at $463 million. An estimate for the final cost of the project has not yet been released.
For an earlier CHC report, go here: Update & Timeline for New DC Jail and the Correctional Treatment Facility https://bit.ly/3XG5T9J
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