Constructed between 1936 and 1937, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cotton Annex provided the necessary space for federal employees to create and refine cotton classification and standardization. Built with "Stripped Classicism" elements, the building’s exterior stayed largely the same over the decades, except for the addition of a six-story stairwell in 1986. Under the charge of Supervising Architect of the Treasury Louis A. Simon, the rectangular building includes administrative and warehouse wings. While plans originally included an expansion of the Cotton Annex, these were never realized, and can be seen through the lack of ornamentation on much of the building. The Cotton Annex sits across 12th Street SW from the Department of Agriculture’s South Building, completed in 1936. As one of many important agriculture staples in the United States, the completion of the Cotton Annex allowed the Department of Agriculture to further its research related to identifying and classifying cotton. While in operation, research practices and technology used for these purposes continued to advance, which was especially useful given the wide variety of cotton types found throughout the country. The Cotton Annex was considered a premier research facility during its use, and put the United States at the top of cotton standards. In order to keep up with the research techniques employees used, the building had to adapt. Interestingly, researchers realized that natural, northern-facing light was best in order to identify different cotton types, so the Department of Agriculture created special skylights in the building to help employees conduct their work. Over time, however, the department in charge of cotton standards and identification departed the building, and in 1964, few, if any, employees remained at the Cotton Annex. The Cotton Annex was converted to residential use in the early 2020s. The new development, Annex on 12th, includes over 550-units throughout the original building and a 13-story modern addition constructed on the historic landmark's east and south elevations.
DC Inventory: July 23, 2015 National Register: October 5, 2015
The West Heating Plant, originally known as the West Central Heating Plant, was designed by consulting architect William Dewey Foster (1890-1958), working under successive Supervising Architects of the Public Buildings Administration, Louis A. Simon (1867-1958) and Gilbert Stanley Underwood (1890–1960). The project’s purpose was to supplement the supply of steam heat to federal buildings provided by an already overburdened Central Heating Plant, which was erected to support a New Deal construction campaign meant to address a fifteen-year backlog. A West Central Heating Plant (and the Central plant was, for a time, referred to as the East Central Heating Plant) was similarly meant to catch up to the demands of the vast expansion of the federal establishment during the Depression and to allow for future construction. It was essential to the expansion of another Underwood and Foster collaboration, a new War Department headquarters, which later became the Harry S. Truman Building, Department of State.
The heating plant was designed in 1940 and funded by Congress. The laying of pipes and some site work began in 1941, with the retaining walls and foundation laid in 1942. Work halted during World War II, when the War Production Board (WPB) diverted most steel to the war effort, and funds were diverted to other projects until 1946. Construction recommenced that year, with the local Charles H. Tompkins Company as builder. Completed in late 1948, the project’s cost nearly doubled original estimates, due to inflation and additional steam mains laid. Within a couple of years, people began to refer to the new facility as the West Heating Plant.
This monumental six-story building with its streamlined facades of buff-colored brick, illustrates a shift from the Art Deco toward a more minimalist version of the Moderne style. Its design successfully combines stylistic modern details into the design of a substantial industrial building.
In 2014, the General Services Administration sold the property at public auction. The building was conveyed with a covenant that requires that any redevelopment of the property comply with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. A proposal to redevelop the site as high-end condominiums called for the demolition of more than 65% of the historic building. The building is currently being redeveoped and, except for the west elevation, most of the historic landmark has been lost.
DC Inventory: November 2, 2017
Within Georgetown Historic District
]]>Like the Department of War, the Department of State experienced rapid growth due to World War II, requiring it to seek quarters outside of the old State, War and Navy Building. In 1947, the Department of State moved its first unit into the Department of War Building in the Northwest Rectangle, and in 1955, Congress appropriated funds for an extension to the building to become the Department’s headquarters. This purpose-built extension incorporates features specific to the needs of the agency responsible for the international relations of the United States and has, along with the former War Department Building, served that agency for more than six decades. The US Department of State Building is a massive, multi-wing, limestone- and granite-clad federal government office building. The building was constructed in two phases and consists of two principal parts: US Department of War Building, built 1939-1941, and the US Department of State Extension, built 1957-1960. The US Department of War Building, designed by private architects under the supervision of the Office of the Supervising Architect headed by Louis A. Simon, occupies the northeast section of the site. It is notable for its early Modern aesthetic of stripped classical elements, punched window openings, and minimal ornamentation, often referred to as Stripped Classicism. Built twenty years later, the Department of State Extension presents a more mature example of Modernism. The eight-story building with a series of wings and courtyards, capped by a series of penthouses on the flat roofs, no longer alludes to Classical building forms or details. The building is constructed of concrete but clad in buff limestone and granite consistent with the federal government aesthetic.
DC Inventory: July 27, 2017
]]>This federal building was constructed between 1939 and 1940, using the design of architects Charles Z. Klauder and Louis A. Simon. Although it was intended for the Railroad Retirement Board, its first occupant was the United States Department of War.
On July 28, 1938, Simon and Klauder presented their designs for two buildings to house the Railroad Retirement Board and the Social Security Administration to the United States Commission of Fine Arts, which had the authority to review all new public buildings erected in the District of Columbia. Klauder designed back-to-back buildings, with the Social Security Administration building facing Independence Avenue SW and the Railroad Retirement Board building facing C Street SW. The finished building, in addition to its unusual "fishbone" plan, had elements of both Streamline Moderne and Egyptian Revival in its facade.
Through an Act of Congress, it was renamed the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building on October 21, 1972, becoming the first federal building to be named for a woman.
DC Inventory: April 26, 2007
National Register: July 6, 2007
]]>The Wilbur J. Cohen Building, formerly the Social Security Administration Building, is a monumental presence amongst significant public buildings on the National Mall. The building is part of the modern architectural movement of the first half of the 20th century, while harking back to 19th century revivalism in its organization and detailing.
Charles Z. Klauder (1872-1938), consulting architect under the supervision of then Supervising Architect of the Treasury, Louis A. Simon (1867-1958), designed the building with block-like massing, planar wall surfaces, and simple geometric forms that are reflective of classically influenced modern styles that dominated the design of public buildings of the era.
Constructed between 1939 and 1940, the Social Security Administration Building is primarily clad in Indiana limestone and rises five stories, with a sixth floor penthouse/recreational space. The interior of the building falls more clearly into Art Moderne characteristics through the use of sharp contrasts between materials, clean geometric forms, and shiny and smooth-textured materials. The building includes an extensive art collection, including murals by Ben Shahn and Seymour Fogel.
For many years, the building has housed Voice of America and the US Agency for Global Media.
DC Inventory: April 26, 2007
National Register: July 6, 2007
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