RAMSA and Maya Lin collaborate on metal-clad Washington DC building

New York studio Robert AM Stern Architects has completed an academic building for Georgetown University in Washington DC featuring installations by American designer Maya Lin.

Opened in 2024, the 150,000-square-foot (13,935-square-metre) aluminium-plated building houses the McCourt School of Public Policy on Georgetown's Capitol Campus. The architecture studio sought to balance the university context with that of downtown Washington DC.

"The architecture of the McCourt School's new home balances its place within two overlapping contexts: a well-defined urban university campus and downtown Washington DC,"  RAMSA partner Graham Wyatt told Dezeen.

"The building reads like an extension of the Capitol Campus, while also animating the pedestrian experience."

The studio said the primary goal of the project was to unite the functions of the school together under one roof – in 20 classrooms, commons, offices, a 400-seat auditorium and a rooftop terrace – that allow students, staff and faculty to collaborate without creating academic hierarchies or silos.

"Instead, we designed a 'travelling staircase,' which functions as the building's spine," the studio explained. "Rather than winding directly upward, this staircase traverses the building, connecting all its levels and requiring users to move through various social spaces – such as the lobby, the main commons, or lounges – when reaching an office or classroom."

Denoted by a white bannister that winds through the building's levels, the staircase physically and volumetrically connects the collaborative and social spaces.

The base of the large blocky building is composed of cast stone that references the neighbouring Georgetown Law Center and juxtaposes the recessed glass curtain walls.

Plate aluminium panels clad the upper levels, reflect light and divide the facade into smaller modules through vertical fins and a brise soleil that shades the windows.

"The projecting vertical fins and brise-soleil on the McCourt School's facade are organised in an A-B rhythm, partially inspired by the Georgetown Law Center's main building, while also loosely echoing the uniformly punched windows of a neighbouring mid-century structure," the team said.

The exterior rhythms and materials continue into the main gathering spaces. Here, white oak panelling and terrazzo floor with mother-of-pearl aggregate bounce natural light deep into the building.

Maya Lin's collection of site-specific installations is titled Mapping Our Place in the World. White pendant lights with smooth organic shapes – named "Whether Birds" – hang above the commons and change colour with the weather outside, while directional speakers broadcast audio recordings of waterways, wetlands, forests and grasslands over the main staircase.

RAMSA and Lin collaborated on the Sky Garden terrace with elliptical pools and native plants that provide a quiet space that celebrates regional ecology in the bustling city.

The terrace wraps the 280-seat rooftop venue with darker wood panelling and bronze trim and features a composition of green glass marbles mounted on the ceiling to create a bird's eye view of the Potomac watershed.

Recently, RAMSA and BWBR Architects completed a learning centre at Minnesota's University of St. Thomas that fosters collaboration between arts and engineering students. RAMSA also teamed up with the DLR Group to construct a pair of performing arts buildings at The Ohio State University.

The photography is by Francis Dzikowski.

Project credits:

Architect: RAMSA (Robert A.M. Stern Architects)
General contractor: Whiting Turner
Civil engineer: Dewberry
MEP: GHT Limited
Structural engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Code: Jensen Hughes
Cost estimating: Vermeulens
Elevator: Van Deusen & Associates
Sustainability, lighting: Atelier Ten
AV/IT security: SMW
Irrigation: Lynch Associates
Arborist: Wetlands
Waterproofing: Morrison Hershfield
Environmental graphics: Roll Barresi
Facade access: Lerch Bates
Envelope consultant: Front
Curtain wall / aluminum composite panels: TSI Corporations

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