Glazed facades and a unique folded structural glass ‘veil’ for the International Spy Museum, a cultural landmark in Washington DC.

2022 AISC IDEAS² Award — Merit
2019 ENR MidAtlantic Best Project Award — Best Cultural/Worship

The International Spy Museum at L’Enfant Plaza in Washington DC features an iconic facade, with inspiration drawn from espionage and spycraft. Working with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Eckersley O’Callaghan designed the folded structural glass veil, suspended in front of the ‘black box’ exhibition space to add a deceptive visual layer.

To meet the stringent budget, we rationalised the original curved glass design into folded plate glass panels that stand 17 feet high. A lightweight stainless steel structure stitches together the geometric folds, resulting in a thinner build-up of glass and lower costs.

At 140,000 square feet, the museum building more than doubles the exhibition space for the world’s largest collection of espionage-related artefacts. Facilities included new resources for educational programming, a lecture theatre, and a multifunctional rooftop event space with sweeping views of the city, where we engineered the glazed facade.

We also designed the facade for the ground floor lobby, which is comprised of an aluminium curtain wall bonded by four-sided structural silicone.

Location
Washington, DC

Client
Spy Museum

Architect
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners |
Hickok Cole Architects