Group Project: The Russell Building Courtyard

Do you remember being part of a group project in school? Were you the person that had your portion completed early? Or were you the one everybody was waiting for right at the deadline because you started the night before it was due?

A recent project on Capitol Hill was not a group term paper on the History of Money (a real assignment I had in high school and still have nightmares about), but the Russell Senate Office Building courtyard restoration, which supplemented the Russell Exterior Envelope Project. This courtyard restoration effort became a group project of its own where different Architect of the Capitol (AOC) teams had to rely on and coordinate with one another to accomplish their individual tasks, ultimately leading to a final, comprehensive product.

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Project work included updating ADA-compliant walkways and stone curbs.

The courtyard's original design was simple, sunny and symmetrical, but with years of building construction improvements, the courtyard had become more asymmetrical and less orderly. The project goal was to restore the courtyard to its original beauty, recovering its visual harmony and balance, while respecting historic and memorial features and providing a peaceful space for Members of Congress, staff and visitors.

The groups that tackled this project included employees from several divisions of the Office of the Chief Engineer (OCE), the Senate Office Buildings and the Capitol Grounds and Arboretum working on different, overlapping elements. Add a tight timeline to all of this and you have a situation that can be very stressful and would have any student wishing they could ask the teacher for an extension.

The work entailed replacing extremely damaged or cracked paving stones while cleaning, repointing and resetting other stones in the upper courtyard. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant curb cuts — two in the upper courtyard and two in the carriageway with one at each lobby door — were also installed.

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Employees of the AOC Construction Division are shown building the Capitol Grounds and Arboretum storage shed.

Another team worked on removing and replanting overgrown shrubbery; retaining selected trees; incorporating an irrigation system with modifications and improvements; and designing, constructing and relocating a new, functional and aesthetically pleasing garden shed to complement the landscape and surrounding buildings.

Members from OCE developed the designs and OCE's Construction Division (CD) provided a fire alarm system for the courtyard, automatic door operators at the carriageway mezzanine lobby doors, and ADA-compliant drainage systems and ramps. The CD also removed joint filler and regrouted the granite steps at the upper courtyard and carriageways, and created a curb cut access to the center grass of the lower courtyard.

These project teams were peppered full of the "A+" students everyone wanted in their group at school because their work was always shipshape, and they were cool under pressure. To minimize the stress and maximize the chance of success, the individual teams relied on strong coordination, close communication and solid collaboration. As a result, this group of dedicated employees met the AOC's Operate as One Team, Dedicated to One Mission goal with perfection.