The REACH at the Kennedy Center

The REACH at the Kennedy Center

Application: Interiors

Building Type: Civic Museum

This addition to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts was completed in 2019. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, this space was programmed to had flexible indoor and outdoor space along with space dedicated to rehearsal and education. The architect says this about the project:

“In complementary/contrast to the monumental original Kennedy Center building by Edward Durell Stone, The REACH’s three pavilions are fused with the landscape. They shape outdoor spaces between them, and frame views to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Potomac riverfront. The three pavilions are interconnected below green roofs to expand the Kennedy Center’s interior space with 72,000 sf of open studios, rehearsal and performance spaces and dedicated arts and learning spaces. Embedding much of the expansion under a public landscape offers maximum green space to the community and gives landscape views from the interior spaces.”

With an eye towards transparency and in effort to make a multifunctional community space open to the public, the design team needed a floor finish that would stand up to the heavy foot traffic. The seamless nature of poured in place epoxy terrazzo lends itself well to this application and has lower maintenance costs than virtually any other flooring finish.

Poured in place epoxy terrazzo was selected as the material for main lobby and corridor spaces because of its durability and aesthetic flexibility. The emphasis on natural light from large walls of glass are underpinned by a simple, understated charcoal terrazzo mix design. A small amount of recycled glass was used in the mix to bring in recycled content and add depth to the floor.

The main feature stair features a minimal 3/8” precast epoxy terrazzo tread-riser combo unit proud of the concrete stair structure.

On track for LEED Gold, terrazzo offers potential contributions for low-emitting materials as a GreenGuard GOLD certified material, along with material reporting and recycled content.