Ballston Quarter
CallisonRTKL is redesigning the 1980s-era Ballston Common on a collaborative team with Forest City and re-branding it as Ballston Quarter, a mixed-use city center and cutting-edge retail destination that appeals to smart, young urban dwellers in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.
Ballston Quarter’s new design removes portions of the mall’s roof, creating an indoor/outdoor, mixed-used project anchored by an existing Macy’s at one end and a new luxury residential tower with retail at the other. CRTKL worked with architect of record Cooper Carry to extend the brick façade along Wilson Boulevard inside the block to express a central “warehouse” building, with an “old meets new” ambiance against the modern design of the new tower. CRTKL provided full design and architect of record services on the project’s residential tower.
Atop the adjacent parking garage is the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, where the Washington Capitals ice hockey team practices, along with several local schools and clubs, making the development an important community landmark. The design also includes vertical transportation enhancements to better connect the ice rink facility with the shopping center. The original mall was designed by RTKL three decades ago and is one of several RTKL malls from that era that has been transformed by CRTKL’s current generation of retail experts.
