![\"Design](\"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Design-blog-banner.png\")
\nIn the book \u201cUrbanism in the Age of Climate Change<\/a>,\u201d one of the founders of\u00a0 Congress for The New Urbanism<\/a>, Peter Calthorpe<\/a>, defines urbanism in one of the best ways I have read:<\/p>\n Urbanism is a broad term defined by qualities, not quantities; by intensity, not density; by connectivity, not just location. Urbanism is always made from places that are mixed in uses, walkable, human-scaled, and diverse in population; that balance cars with transit; that reinforce local history; that are adaptable; and that support a rich public life. Urbanism can come in many forms, scales, locations, and densities. Many of our traditional villages, suburbs, country towns and historic cities are \u201curban\u201d by this definition. Urbanism often resides beyond our downtowns. Traditional urbanism always manifests the vitality, complexity and intimacy that defined our finest cities and towns for centuries. By this definition, suburbs can be \u201curban\u201d if they are walkable and mixed use. Cities can easily be the reverse when they are not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Marriott\u2019s new headquarters is all about true urbanism and providing its people, who are the driving force behind its history of innovation, with the amenities necessary to thrive in an ever-changing corporate work environment. The move to Bethesda was an investment in Marriott\u2019s future, enabling it to attract and retain the best talent in the industry. The company\u2019s symbiotic relationship with the urban core is a shining example of how bright the future of work \u2014 and the future of cities \u2014 can be. In this case, the Marriott headquarters is a shining example of how design can impact corporate culture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One side of the development includes a flagship hotel with ballroom spaces, a restaurant with outdoor dining, a coffee shop, and a seasonal rooftop dining terrace. The other side of a central plaza features the headquarters building with three podium floors that include a full-service caf\u00e9, various meeting spaces, a co-working lounge area con\u00adnected to the lobby with a \u201csocial stair\u201d available to employees for all staff gatherings, and a child development center for employ\u00adees\u2019 children.<\/p>\n A \u201csocial stair\u201d, seating areas and dining tables dominate the shared space of the building base and create an engaging relationship with pedestrians outside.<\/p><\/div>\n Many of these shared spaces are clearly visible from the surrounding streets and open onto outdoor terraces, creating an en\u00adgaging and permeable podium. These open buildings frame a public plaza that not only is a convenient cut-through between Woodmont and Wisconsin avenues, but an enhanced pedestrian environment that promotes socialization and connectivity with better access to Metro.<\/p>\n Although the buildings are more than 375 feet long on Wisconsin Avenue, the through-block break and articulation of the building facades with different horizontal and vertical planes of different materials and window detailing make the overall mass much more contextual within the existing city. A stepping-down of the overall building mass and a colorfully lit corner with a marquee Marriott sign at the top also adds to the overall skyline of Bethesda from afar.<\/p>\n With the new Marriott International Headquarters and Hotel, the best qualities of urbanism have been well served.<\/p>\n Marriott International Headquarters and Hotel<\/strong><\/p>\n Architect: Gensler<\/p>\n Developer: Boston Properties and Bernstein Company<\/p>\n Civil Engineers: VIKA Companies, LLC<\/p>\n Landscape Architects: Sasaki<\/p>\n Structural Engineers: Thornton Tomasetti<\/p>\n M\/E\/P Engineers: Dewberry<\/p>\n Contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction<\/p>\n This is part of a <\/em>series of Third Place blogs<\/em> taking a closer look at the winners of Montgomery Planning\u2019s 2023 Design Excellence Awards.<\/em><\/p>\n In the book \u201cUrbanism in the Age of Climate Change,\u201d one of the founders of\u00a0 Congress for The New Urbanism, Peter Calthorpe, defines urbanism in one of the best ways I have read:<\/p>\n Urbanism is a broad term defined by qualities, not quantities; by intensity, not density; by connectivity, not just location. Urbanism is always made from places that are mixed in uses, walkable, human-scaled, and diverse in population; that balance cars with transit; that reinforce local history; that are adaptable; and that support a rich public life. Urbanism can come in many forms, scales, … Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[688],"class_list":["post-9420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design","tag-design-makes-a-difference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9420"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9442,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9420\/revisions\/9442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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![\"Walkways](\"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2023-Marriott-Planning-Award-Jury-PDF-6b.jpg\" "\\"2023-Marriott-Planning-Award-Jury-PDF")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2023-Montgomery-Planning-Award-Jury-PDF-9b.jpg\")
\n![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Paul-Mortensen.jpg\")
\nAbout the author<\/strong>
\nPaul Mortensen is the Senior Urban Designer in the Director\u2019s Office at the Montgomery County Planning Department and leads the Design Excellence program. He is a registered architect in California, Washington, and Maryland, is a LEED-Accredited Professional, and is a member of the Congress for New Urbanism.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"