Client: Vornado/Charles E. Smith
Location: Crystal City, VA, United States
Completion date: 2016
Artwork budget: $1,700,000
Project Team
Interior Designer
Adriana Espinosa
Hartman Design Group
Artist
Maggie O'Neil
Artist
Ford Crull
Art Consultant
Mia Stone
Deljou Art Group
Overview
As a part of the revitalization of Crystal City, The Bartlett is now Arlington, Virginia's largest apartment building. At 23 stories tall with 699 apartment homes, this community is now the “city within a city”. From the entry level to the roof deck, residents enjoy 40,000 square feet of amenities (26,000 inside & 14,000 outside). Even the lobby is an active, usable amenity with a private resident door leading directly to Whole Foods on one side and Joe’s Cold Roast on the other, as well as a café meant for eating prepared food and sipping coffee.
Goals
From the early planning stages of The Bartlett, the design team identified specific prominent areas that would highlight original art.Located just outside of DC and across from the Pentagon, this Class A apartment building features backgrounds of wood, steel, stone and neutral textures-a perfect environment to feature art. A subtle nod to patriotism is evident in the red and blue accents, which also show up in the art and accents.Three pieces in the lobby and gallery area were commissioned from DC’s Maggie O’Neil, who is known for her unique interpretation of iconic DC buildings as well as her patriotic art. The two pieces in the lobby are of the Capital Building and the Washington Monument.The Uncle Sam painting that is featured in the gallery book shelf surprises the guests and residents as they turn the corner and experience the impact of this original composition.
Ford Crull, the artist commissioned to paint the large lobby oils, was discovered by our principal designer in a gallery in Kent, CT. Ford worked with the design team and the owner to incorporate the colors, energy and even some hidden Bartlett pears in these dynamic pieces that were sized to fit into the art niches.
Process
The owner of the building is a fan of Maggie O’Neil. Knowing this, the design team reached out to Maggie to commission the two lobby pieces. Maggie worked closely with our team to re-color to work with the interior palette and to enlarge the paintings to work in this high ceiling space.
When our principal designer, Phyllis Hartman happened upon Ober Gallery in Kent, CT, she knew that Ford Crull was the artist for the featured lobby artwork. “His use of color, texture and form had the potential to create the dynamic affect we were looking for.” Ford was very excited about this commission and worked closely with the owner and the design team to create these original, one of a kind pieces that grace the lobby today. They bring so much color and life to the space.
In the Work Bar space, Mia Stone’s original oil creates a wonderful focal in the brick niche. Mia sized one of her original images to fit perfectly.
It was a pleasure to work with all of the artists on this project. Each one was excited to be featured and was instrumental in the design team’s success.
Additional Information
The space was designed with a neutral palette using warm woods and natural stone as a backdrop for original commissioned art work. The museum-like design details allowed The Bartlett to achieve rents at 8% higher than originally anticipated through the duration of the lease-up, with the highest price per square foot of any community in the competitive set.