The Sylvan Visitor Center proposes a new type of integration for architecture and landscape. Simultaneously a building set within a grove of trees and a grove of trees set within a building, the sinuous structure is designed to become a gateway to the National Mall as well as a cultural hub. Its narrow curving bands settle into the sloping landscape and stack to accommodate different programs: back of house spaces for an outdoor theater, public restrooms, shaded courtyards, offices, education spaces, a restaurant and a viewing platform. The publicly accessible spiral of the roof also supports a bounteous garden for the restaurant within.

The building is part of a larger proposal for the grounds of the Washington Monument, completed in collaboration with Balmori Associates Landscape Architects. Sensitive to the site’s history as well as to its location in the flood plain, the design develops a continuity between nature, historical landscape, and new intervention, replacing the old Sylvan Theatre with several new outdoor performance spaces and integrating much-needed Parks facilities and visitor amenities. The project won second place in the National Mall Design Competition.