2020 Professional Awards
of the Potomac Chapter, ASLA

The REACH
at the Kennedy Center

Hollander Design Landscape Architects

One of two Honor Awards, our highest category, goes to Hollander Design Landscape Architects for The REACH at the Kennedy Center. Jurors praised a well-presented and beautiful project on a challenging site and appreciated how it makes the artificial look inviting and organic.

Honor Award in Built Design

The Kennedy Center had long grappled with the perception that it catered only to elite arts patrons. The REACH stands as a stark contrast to this sense of formalism, with architecture, landscape, and programming dramatically expanding the type of experiences Kennedy Center offers. The landscape includes outdoor performance spaces, dining areas, a Gingko tree memorial grove to JFK, and permanent and temporary art installations.  



Photos posted on social media show how the REACH blurs the experiences of performance and audience, choreography and chance, stillness and movement.



To accommodate dramatic grade change, the designers chose a variety of sedums that would read as one blanket. An advanced irrigation system monitors and maintains a technically sophisticated landscape.



Plant palettes were orchestrated to provide a performance of color and texture year round. Designed as a place where audiences and artists can gather to collaborate and explore, the greenroof landscape of the REACH creates new opportunities for outdoor arts experiences.

Project Team
Landscape Architect: Hollander Design Landscape Architects
Architect: Steven Holl Architects
Associate Architect: BNIM
Structural Engineer: Silman
MEP: Arup
Civil Engineer: Langan Engineering
General Contractor: Whiting Turner
Lighting: L'Observatoire International
Greenroof Contractors: Sempergreen & Hydrotech
Photos: Hollander Design Landscape Architects

Congratuations to Hollander Design Landscape Architects.



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