Dining in the Park

As part of the reimagination of National Landing, JBG Smith introduced several new dining concepts to the neighborhood, including Dining in the Park, with an anchor restaurant that embraces the nature around it and creates a seamless transition between indoors and out.

GHT provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering design services to create the new indoor/outdoor dining experience.

Now occupied by Surreal, the structure was added to the Crystal Park Plaza, which sits atop an underground parking garage. While GHT tied the MEP infrastructure into many of the existing systems, the restaurant structure required an HVAC system independent of the base building systems. To minimize the acoustical, odor, and visual impedances to the dining experience, GHT developed the basis of design for the roof-mounted HVAC system.

This addition to the plaza required improvements to the existing park area to accommodate the new restaurant structure. The space within the restaurant structure was limited to the kitchen, dining areas, and restrooms, which posed a challenge for coordinating existing utilities and support spaces. To navigate the space limitations, GHT incorporated the electrical, water/fire, grease interceptor, and trash rooms in the garage below.