Bright Leaf & Cooper
Brightleaf & Cooper are two projects with separate identities developed simultaneously on the same block within the heart of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
Brightleaf was originally the Alexandria City Health Department, with the main building built in the 1940’s with additions built in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and as such, fell under the purview of Alexandria’s Board of Architectural Review, which required the design to maintain three of the four elevations as they have been for all of those decades. The program called for nine very high-end townhouse units of varying sizes. After extensive analysis of the existing structure and typical construction methodologies it was determined that the most efficient path would be to remove the rear wall of the original building and all of the interior partitions to build wood-framed units, which gave us the flexibility to create units that would command significant sales prices than any of the nearby inventory.
Given the irregularity of the site, nearly every unit ended up being uniquely designed. All have at least 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, gourmet kitchens, capacious master suites and outdoor living spaces. Six of the nine units include detached garages accessed from an alley in the rear. Each garage also contains an in-law suite on its upper level with access to a back yard connected to the kitchen and family room of the unit. Above the four units that were part of the additions we placed monitors which open onto private rooftop decks. These, like the new rear elevation of the original building, have been rendered in a more contemporary affect as a nod to the times in which it was built.
Cooper was 7 luxury townhouses. We endeavored to emulate the many example of beautiful masonry work that can be found on most every block of the neighborhood. Scale and proportion, were slightly enhanced to accommodate the requirements of the marketplace, while not overwhelming the streetscape. Every unit had a 2-car garage accessed from the alley, and most had roof-top decks and finished basements.
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Alexandria, VA
Condominium
Y-12 Investments
November 2017
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16 dwelling units
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48,000 total GSF
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3 stories
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One- and two-family dwellings
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Interior load-bearing masonry walls with bar joists
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In-unit elevators
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Integral and detached garages
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Private roof decks