Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building vs Central Heating Plant

Comparing the Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building and the Central Heating Plant is interesting because they both stand in Washington DC, DC, and were completed within 3 years of each other, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

Both the Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building and the Central Heating Plant were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Joseph Younger and Paul Philippe Cret followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building is primarily residential, while the Central Heating Plant is primarily industry.

The Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building offers 425 residential units.

The Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building also provides 200 parking spaces.

Both the Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building and the Central Heating Plant rely on a Frame structural system.

A frame structure uses a grid of columns and beams to carry the building's loads. This frees the walls from structural duties, allowing for flexible floor plans and larger windows.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Masonry facade.

A masonry facade gives the building a heavier, more traditional appearance. It often conceals a frame structure behind it, creating the look of solid walls without carrying the main loads.