Washington, D.C
Adjaye Associates built community-led timber pavilion in Washington DC
Adjaye Associates has built a community-led mass timber pavilion in Washington DC, United States.
Named Sycamore & Oak, the 2,050-square-metre pavilion takes its name from its location, the corner of Oak Drive and Sycamore Drive.
Sycamore & Oak lies at the intersection of economic development, community elevation, material innovation, and planetary regeneration
Designed as a community-led mixed-use development in the predominantly black, primarily residential, and historically underinvested Congress Heights neighbourhood of Washington DC, the structure accommodates retail and food concepts that originated in the community and provides job opportunities to neighborhood residents.
The canopy shelters and shades the interior programmed spaces while circular skylights bathe the space in natural light
Adjaye Associates envisioned a mass-timber structure with an open-air layout, while featuring a spacious canopy that offers protection from the elements. The pavilion promotes a sense of intimacy or ‘community within community’ when underneath.
The pavilion is punctuated by eleven strategically positioned skylights that help to allow natural light into the interior, and programmed spaces.
The open air timber structure features gathering space and a timber panel backed stage for community events and musical performances
“This Retail Village offers wellness and entrepreneurial support services, food vendors, convening and event space, and provides a year-round community resource, retail, and cultural destination,” said Adjaye Associates.
Conceived as entirely public space, the building is comprised of two main modules and rests on an elevated plinth that becomes a central gathering and performance hall, and event venue with a viewing deck into the multiple programs activating the site from the fresh food market, education and fitness centers, retail incubators to the outdoor dining.
Mass timber columns support the roof framing above a mezzanine seating area
Designed and constructed as a kit of parts using a modular system and reclaimable joints, Sycamore & Oak serves as a model on how to nurture and promote local businesses in other underserved communities.
“We are building the community that Ward 8 deserves at the St. Elizabeths East campus. This campus is coming to life right before our eyes—a place for people to live, to have fun, to work and find new opportunity,” said Muriel Bowser, Mayor of the District of Columbia
“Sycamore & Oak is going to be a beautiful new destination for our city and an incubator for local talent,” Bowser said.
A community mural designed by Congress Heights-based artist Keyonna Jones offers a vibrant atmosphere for visitors
Sycamore & Oak lies at the intersection of economic development, community elevation and placemaking, material innovation, and planetary regeneration.
The pavilion is constructed entirely of 100% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, which is responsibly for sourced timber. The retail village is the largest free-standing structure of this nature in DC.
Designed for durability, strength, and exposure to the elements, the mass timber construction allows Sycamore & Oak to be a climate steward for a holistic future. It is a non-toxic, non-composite, durable material that facilitates fast and efficient assembly due to its simple construction techniques and standard sizing.
In a food, retail, and job desert, Sycamore & Oak is a home for local food vendors, a health-forward grocery store, and boutiques that employ and serve community residents
According to Adjaye Associates, the structure is “aimed at supporting emerging Black entrepreneurs, the pavilion provides storefronts for 13 local, small businesses.”
The pavilion’s modular design includes removable and replaceable wall panels, providing flexibility as businesses expand or move in and out. In line with inclusive development, the project actively engaged local minority-owned businesses to participate in construction and operations.
The seating area on the mezzanine level directly beneath the timber canopy is warm and inviting
The mezzanine is an elevated area with outdoor seating and planters, creating a cozy, tree-house-like atmosphere. The environmental canopy covering the structure collects rainwater and uses photovoltaic panels to generate energy, aiming for net zero impact.
Opened in 2023, Sycamore & Oak serves as the first phase of the ambitious St. Elizabeths East Parcel 15 mixed-used development.
View overlooking the ground level gathering space
Phase two will serve as the gateway to a revitalized St. Elizabeths East Campus. It will feature mixed-use commercial and retail spaces, a hospital, open public areas, and residential development, capitalizing on both public and private investments in the neighborhood.
This first-ever mixed-use development will prioritize outstanding design and local input to establish a new benchmark for affordable housing, job creation, sustainability, and community equity.
Sycamore & Oak is a vibrant focal point used for gatherings ranging from seated events, workout classes, musical performances, or holiday markets
Sycamore & Oak is designed as a temporary pavilion to encourage inclusive development and community engagement on the site for the next two to four years before being disassembled and redeployed in other historically underserved communities.
Site plan
Deck level plan
Mezzanine level plan
East Elevation
North Elevation
West Section
North Section
Adjaye Associates recently created a new home for dot.ateliers, a community-oriented and ecologically responsive destination that offers a robust space for artistic production. Adjaye Associates and Sydney-based contemporary aboriginal artist Daniel Boyd designed a black, porous canopy in Sydney, Australia.
Project facts
Architect: Adjaye Associates
Location: Washington DC, USA
Size: 2,050m2
Architect of Record: Winstanley Architects & Planners
Structural Engineer: StructureCraft Contracting LLC
Construction: HEP Construction
Gneneral Contractor: Banneker Ventures
Mechanical/Electrical Engineer: CS Consulting Engineers, Inc
Civil Engineer: Wiles Mensch Corporation DC
All images © Dror Baldinger.
All drawings © Adjaye Associates.
> via Adjaye Associates
Adjaye Associates
built
mass timber
pavilion
Washington DC
Washington, D.C
12th Honor Flight Tallahassee returns home from successful trip to Washington D.C.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Seventy-two veterans took a trip Saturday to our nation’s capital to visit memorials honoring their service in the armed forces.
This year marks the 12th trip to Washington, D.C. for Honor Flight Tallahassee.
Early Saturday morning, veterans and their guardians met to take a charter flight up to D.C.
Throughout the day, veterans were taken to the World War II memorial, as well as the Korean and Vietnam War memorials. The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
More Tallahassee news:
The day ended with a wonderful welcome home celebration.
Our Jacob Murphey, Julia Miller, Taylor Viles, and Grace Temple accompanied the veterans, capturing moments from throughout the day.
The team will have live coverage from Washington, D.C. on Monday to share more from the day’s events.
We will continue to have coverage throughout the month of May, leading up to our Honor Flight special on Memorial Day.
To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).
Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.
Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here to get started.
Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.
Washington, D.C
Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week
4 things to know about the weather:
- Chances of rain in the morning
- Gusty Sunday
- Chilly Monday
- Temps will rise again through the work week
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.
The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.
Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.
However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.
QuickCast
SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s
MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
Washington, D.C
‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington
The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.
In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.
“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”
Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.
Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.
“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.
“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”
Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”
A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.
Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.
Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.
But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.
“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”
At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.
The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.
Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.
For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.
“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.
“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”
For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.
In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.
Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.
“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoGame 21: Tigers at Red Sox, Garrett Crochet battles both Detroit and the weather
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoWhy do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas Mavericks Owners Might Be Making Big Mistake in Search for New GM
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoDefense dominates, Mensah flashes in Miami’s spring game – The Miami Hurricane
-
Boston, MA2 hours ago
A crowd scientist is helping the Boston Marathon manage a growing field of 30,000-plus runners
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoDenver Nuggets Altitude broadcasts now being offered in Spanish for first time ever
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoNeed to shred? Free drive-up/ride-up shredding Wednesday at Village Green West Seattle
-
San Diego, CA3 hours agoGame 21: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Angels