80M

80 M Street sits in the heart of Washington DC’s vibrant Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, but it’s not your typical office building. The project is the first high-rise overbuild mass timber structure in the Mid-Atlantic—a promising sign of the growing potential for developers seeking vertical expansion opportunities in already built-out neighborhoods. 

The project team added three new floors of mass timber on top of an existing seven-story concrete building, including a penthouse level with office and amenity spaces and a rooftop terrace. Mass timber’s light weight allowed designers to maximize the vertical build while avoiding disruptive structural strengthening interventions in tenant spaces, saving capital and allowing the existing stories to remain fully operational during construction. The exposed mass timber aesthetic differentiates 80 M from standard Class A office buildings in the competitive commercial arena. The new floors feature 16-foot slab-to-slab heights, which provide nearly 200% more light penetration than typical office spaces and add to the building’s appeal as a wellness-driven property. 


Watch a short one-minute video of this project, which was selected as a 2023 Wood Design Awards winner. View the full award gallery here.