History
Originally constructed in 1881, the O Street Market was one of several public markets in the District of Columbia during the 19th Century. After a period of depressed economics, this part of the Shaw neighborhood is undergoing significant redevelopment. The historic market building exterior was restored for use as the new Giant grocery store as part of a mixed-use development of the entire block.
Description
WEI restored the envelope of the historic market building. All existing interior and exterior brick work was repointed with black mortar after stripping the lead paint and removing much of the pink cement used to parge the upper parts of the walls. The masonry crew then built several new interior walls and columns to match the historic masonry. After completing the walls, WEI replaced the deteriorated windows and doors and restored the decorative and structural cast iron columns. Once the steel roof frame was installed, WEI constructed a new roof out of LVL beams and specially layered panels for energy efficiency. The underside was composed of tongue-and-groove oak boards, covered by insulative foam capped with plywood. The panels were pieced together on site with the seams hidden by the steel and beams, giving the appearance of continuous timbers. A standing seam metal roof was applied on the exterior.