Atlantic Plumbing is a 310-unit residential and retail project in Washington, DC’s post-industrial Northwest Quarter. In collaboration with Morris Adjmi Architects, Future Green Studio remade this collection of brick and steel former plumbing-supply warehouses into “one of the hippest places to live” in the city, according to Curbed. The project received an Honor Award for top Residential Design in DC from the Potomac American Society of Landscape Architects. An amenity-rich and lively street-level vision complements the development, helping integrate the project with its neighbors.

 Conceptually, the landscape draws from found elements of the site's industrial history, along with the materials and serendipity of its post-industrial state. With 30,000 square feet of landscape across two buildings, rooftop meadowscapes bring a bucolic serenity to the city. The planting palette reflects the existing site’s overgrown condition, making use of hardy colonizers and colorful perennials like Aster and Allium, paired with resilient grasses from DC’s natural ecology. Vines climb the building facade, reinforcing a design sensibility that intentionally shows architecture in its arrested state of development. Large, sculptural Pine trees and funky Smokebush anchor the roof deck and pool area, with terraced wood decking that provides residents with unique views of downtown DC and the spectacle of crowds outside the neighboring 9:30 Music Club. Downstairs, Corten tree pit enclosures with integrated benches activate the streetscape. Urban meadows materially integrate the residences with their surrounding neighborhood context, celebrating the site’s industrial past through color, texture, and planting.