The southwest waterfront in Washington, D.C., simply known as The Wharf, is a $2 billion development project that transformed 27 acres of land and 24 acres of water into a three million square foot mixed-use urban development.
Recreation Pier, coupled with the adjacent 7th Street Park, forms a new community connection with the water. The Recreation Pier’s configuration was designed to arc and dip softly at its midpoint toward the water, before rising at its terminus, creating multiple vantage points and varied opportunities for engaging with the water. The pier is supported on 99 steel pipe pile each driven to a different elevation to support the complex curvature of the pier. The skeleton of the pier is comprised of precast bent caps and precast panels, each custom designed, fabricated and installed to flow with the alignment of the pier. The pier is clad in a sustainable timber product called Kebony which ages into a classic gray as the pier weathers. One of kind features include hoop-shaped swings, a specially commissioned 500,000 BTU fire feature, stainless and timber railing, custom steel pergola structure, dock house, and curved floating dock. Functionally the pier serves the general public providing access to the river and most importantly providing key ADA features that allow both access to the end of the pier and a specially design ADA kayak launch to access the water.
