McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University - Washington, DC
Unique, highly customized planters add interest and natural elements throughout the LEED-Platinum certified flagship building that anchors the prestigious university’s new Capitol Campus. This extensive project involved installing numerous planters on six levels of the building.
Project Details
Location: Washington, DC
Client: Ruppert Landscape
Product: Custom Planter Boxes, Modular Trough Planters, and Metal Edging Planters
Color: Metallic Silver and Faux Rust
Photo Credit: Elman Studio
Preliminary Objective:
Incorporate natural elements in a functional way to accomplish the McCourt School’s goal of encouraging serendipitous interactions.
While the LEED-Platinum certified building is visually impressive, it also symbolizes the McCourt School of Public Policy’s mission: to inspire students as they conduct research and build bridges with the communities they serve.
Trees that can be seen from street level now beckon from the top of the McCourt School and, along with carefully curated art installations, encourage students to gather and reflect on their connection with the natural environment. Dean Maria Cancian sees the new building as a “crossroads that welcomes people to come together.”
Custom Solution:
Throughout the new flagship building, custom planters in a truly unique range of shapes and configurations incorporate natural elements that encourage frequent and organic connections among students and faculty.
To align with art installations created for the McCourt School project, PureModern manufactured several planters with a one-of-a-kind shape. As she does in many of her works, artist Maya Lin set out to explore landscapes that move around, under, and through our lives. The planters in this project are organically contoured, with edges that undulate both horizontally and vertically to suggest natural forms like earthen mounds or ocean swells.
The project also included other custom accommodations:
Unique shapes. From kidney-shaped planters that hug fountains on the penthouse floor to oval and modular configurations that frame views of iconic landmarks, each planter was meticulously manufactured to enhance visual interest, create dynamic sightlines both indoors and out, and complement the surrounding architecture. Transitions from flat back walls to sloped curved walls of the kidney planters were carefully engineered to achieve the perfect layout for the unique dimensions of the penthouse level.
Drainage. Outdoor planters were manufactured with pre-drilled holes for drainage. One step-up planter was manufactured with a carefully calculated slope so that water would drain into the lower side of the planter.
Anchoring. PureModern took extra care producing shop drawings for proposed anchors that would be installed on the penthouse level and ensuring the metal planter wall properly accounted for the location of the anchors.
Sustainability. PureModern believes in the importance of sustainability and minimizing the environmental footprint of its products, facilities, and services. We were happy to provide supporting information regarding the recycled content of our products to the client, which enabled them to maintain the project’s LEED-Platinum certification. (At the time of this project, the amount of recycled content in the aluminum products purchased was approximately 30-50%.)
Turnaround time. We delivered everything on time and on budget.
Constructed from marine-grade aluminum, the planters are highly functional and also provide exceptional durability.
Project Success:
Throughout all six levels of the new building, PureModern planters add an additional layer of sleek, modern design softened by the greenery inside.
But these planters do more than just hold plants. They help shape the emotional experience of this space and encourage those serendipitous interactions that the McCourt School was hoping for.
Whether sitting inside or outside Georgetown’s newest building, students and faculty now enjoy breathtaking views of the Capitol as they collaborate to strengthen public policy for the U.S. and beyond.
Even with many moving parts and unique customization requests, the project went off without a hitch. Planters were delivered on time and exactly as ordered.
This project illustrates PureModern’s ability to take an artist’s vision and create planters that serve as sculptures, bridging nature and art with design and functionality.
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