Bridge District Brings Nation’s Largest Net Zero Carbon Residential Project to DC

Crews are wrapping up phase one of Bridge District, a 757-unit multifamily project nestled on the southern shore of the Anacostia River near the foot of the Frederick Douglass Bridge in Washington, D.C.. Three connected but distinct towers contain different levels of finishes, from premium to market rate to affordable housing. 

The project began construction in 2023, with ZGF Architects as the designer and HITT Contracting as contractor. Redbrick is the developer. "This building has very high sustainability goals, including living future zero carbon certification as well as LEED Platinum," says Rachel Williams, ZGF sustainability specialist. "One huge aspect of the sustainability of this building is the reduction in embodied carbon from concrete."

The project builds upon methods used for the nearby Amazon HQ2 project, which ZGF also designed and which achieved a 25% reduction in embodied carbon in the concrete. For Bridge District, Williams says the team was able to boost that to a 33% reduction in concrete, and 37% lower across the whole project. 

Williams says the project will "propel the region further into a low carbon concrete. Washington, D.C., is a concrete town, so the more reductions in concretewe can make the better, and I think it just sets the stage for other suppliers that maybe don't have as much experience to learn from us and use it on their next project."

See more in the exclusive video tour above.