Cannon Courtyard, As Intended

"As intended" means that something has occurred, functioned, or been designed exactly in the way it was planned or anticipated. It indicates that an outcome aligns perfectly with the original purpose or goal, often used to confirm successful operation or execution.

For the past decade, the courtyard located within the Cannon House Office Building has served as a staging ground for construction — just as it did after the laying of the building's cornerstone in 1906. Built to the irregular shape of Square 690, the city block on which it sits, the building's four sides rise around this central space. Typical of central courtyards, this green space, then known as the "Court," offered three primary benefits: light, air and natural connection. These elements remained from the building's opening in 1908 until the 1950s, when the construction of a parking garage caused the natural connection to become a faint memory. Thanks to the recent Cannon Renewal, that natural connection is back.

The Original Court

At the turn of the 20th century, the City Beautiful movement led to plans and designs that embraced a holistic approach to civic improvements of public green space, monuments and architecture. Prior to Cannon's design, the Senate Parks Commission and the resulting McMillan Plan offered images, watercolors and models worthy of a capital city. Many buildings, including one located on Square 690, were drawn with central courtyard space.

In the plan, development around the U.S. Capitol was symmetrical, with the U.S. Capitol Dome at the center point of radiating streets and mirrored monumental buildings. This inspired the design and construction of the "House Office Building" that became Cannon and the "Senate Office Building," today known as Russell.

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Views of the Cannon Building’s Court, 1913.

Photos by

Unknown

As intended, the Cannon courtyard, a 300-foot-wide opening encompassing 70,000 square feet, was an airy, park-like setting originally aligned at the basement level. Early plans and photographs show the landscaping scheme consistent with the Beaux-Arts nature of the building, including the simpler limestone building facade. As a less public-facing facade, the Court's walls were clad in Indiana limestone, rather than the marble used at the outer exterior; this was also a cost-saving measure, as discussed during House Office Building Commission design meetings.

This functional approach, designed by Thomas Hastings of Carrère and Hastings, included the notion that the Court would serve multiple purposes: permitting natural light in interior offices, providing a direct vehicular entry during the infancy of the automobile age, adding aesthetic quality to office and meeting room views, and allowing simple enjoyment of green space with seating areas, plantings and a calming water feature.

The original Court included a grass plane ringed by a 20-foot-wide curbed drive, a central circular fountain 50 feet in diameter, plantings at the perimeter, and lighting. Pedestrian circulation followed the building geometry to encircle the space, with a spur connecting to the building doorways.

An Eventual Evolution

In the 1930s, demand grew for parking to serve two House office buildings — Cannon and the "New" House Office Building, later known as Longworth. Foreshadowing the Court's fate in the coming new age of transportation, a 1908 article from Architectural Record includes an account of the "ample driveway entrances in the center C Street wing, on the street level, by which access is gained to the court."

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The C Street entrance, 1958.

Photo by

George Holmes

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View of the Court with parked cars, 1956.

Photo by

Harry Burnett

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The garage construction, 1958.

Photo by

Unknown

The drive circling the Court's perimeter began serving as automobile parking, and therefore, the C Street driveway grew in importance. Eventually, demolition of the courtyard would allow for the construction of a multilevel garage within the space. The arched driveway provided the garage construction project with direct access for demolition of the fountain, curbs, pavement, plantings and lighting. According to the House Cultural Landscape Report, Capitol Grounds staff removed salvageable plantings for use elsewhere, and the U.S. Botanic Garden nursery received some of the soil.

The garage was designed to be largely independent of the exterior courtyard walls. Initial demolition took place in 1958 and proceeded promptly with completion in 1959. While a garage was a needed addition, it also constituted a significant loss of natural connection from the building's landscape. An unappealing roofscape, dotted by a series of mechanical enclosures for ventilation, removed a cohesive visual space. Utilitarian in design, it could not withstand additional weight for any other use or green space.

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Views of the Cannon Building garage roof in the courtyard, 2002.

Photos by

Chuck Badal

A study conducted in 2004 reported that the glare from the garage roof impacted offices facing the courtyard, as well as the three corner stairwells, and recommended mitigating measures for the glare. The overall aesthetic effect became "institutional" with rubberized white membranes, accumulation of dirt and staining around drains, and a maze of pavers linking to the rooftop structures.

All along, the courtyard was classified as an Architect of the Capitol (AOC) heritage asset landscape feature, but it remained a deficiency without the ability to enable any enhancements for over 65 years. As planning began in 2010 for the complete renewal of the Cannon Building, studies used the AOC's Cultural Landscape Report to analyze transforming this deficiency back into use as a functional asset. Without direct access to the space, careful planning and project coordination were critical for any hope of restoring it.

Renewed for Modern Day Function: How We Did It

The courtyard's renewal utilized a phased approach. Enhancing the garage roof structure for eventual courtyard use was also vital for enabling renewal work required throughout the Cannon Building. The construction of a new post-tensioned concrete slab directly above the existing waffle slab distributes weight to existing concrete columns and walls in the garage below, allowing the existing roof to remain in place and minimize disruption to the use of the garage. This weight capacity enhancement occurred during Phase 0 in 2016 and coincided with other garage improvements.

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Construction of the new concrete slab, and a view of project scaffolding and staging, 2015-2020.

Photos by

Dewitt Roseborough; Luke Walter

The added structural support also enabled exterior scaffolding support and temporary climate control systems in the building for each successive phase. Phase 0 set the stage for building-wide systems, mostly in the basement and the new moat area at the perimeter of the courtyard, so that future work phases could connect to new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems while minimizing shutdowns and disturbance to building occupants. Phase 0 also included a solution for the existing garage ventilation system, now concealed within new construction and landscape, which was central to making it a usable space. Within the design, acoustical louvers help to mitigate fan noise audible in the courtyard during peak hours of fan operation.

A coordinated effort installed and constructed waterproofing, hardscape, terrace, stairs, bridges and landscape. The new water fountain was built at the center and includes locations for pump, filter and support infrastructure concealed within the garage below. A new lift creates access to the courtyard level for the purpose of transporting lawn care machinery and landscape maintenance materials.

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Soil was brought into the Cannon Building courtyard using a special truck and large hose, 2026.

Photos by

Sean Greene

Finally, we cannot forget another significant feature of that natural connection — grass. The required soil needed to get into the courtyard without tracking it throughout the building. Over the course of two months, during evening and night shifts, the team used a special truck to blow soil into the courtyard via a large hose through the First Street entrance. More than 2,250 cubic yards of soil were distributed just in time for the fall planting season and just before the particularly harsh winter the project endured thereafter.

Design Consistent with the Architecture of the Building

The goal for the Cannon Renewal was to create a more efficient and sustainable modern workplace that better supports the operations of the U.S. House of Representatives. Preserving the historic fabric and structure makes many improvements all but invisible to those without a view behind the construction barrier walls. And that is the point.

To some, it merely looks like a fresh coat of paint on the walls or a scrubbing of the marble. Yet, new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems have been rebuilt and concealed. Windows, doors, stone, plaster and other notable features have been restored or repaired. The renewal of the courtyard, however, did not occur behind construction walls, so the full scope was visible here from offices and stairwells.

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The recently renewed Cannon Building and courtyard, 2026.

Photo by

Sean Greene

The formal Beaux-Arts quality of the original courtyard design has been retained but reinterpreted with a distinctive modernity that clearly distinguishes it from its historic precedent. The design draws upon the elegant simplicity of the original layout, evident in both historic drawings and photographs. That plan included a large circular fountain at its center, surrounded by an expansive lawn. The perimeter was defined by a service road, with a short stone wall separating it from the lawn.

A new terrace projects from the second floor, providing a path from the monumental rotunda inside down staircases to where the courtyard now sits, rather than the level below when the building first opened. It is a concrete-framed structure set away from the building's face and linked by three bridges with walls clad in architectural precast concrete, similar in color and texture to the historic courtyard's limestone building facade.

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The courtyard’s new terrace, fountain and bench seating, 2026.

Photos by

Sean Greene

At the terrace level, three new doorways were created using existing window openings, providing access from the north and west wing corridors. The placement of the terrace allows for light to filter through the windows below or for people to access the restaurant. Two more accessible entrances connect the courtyard with the first floor at the terrace. Within the terrace, the space under the stairs provides operational storage.

The intent of the terrace is to contrast with the adornments of the Cannon Building's Caucus Room facade, deferring to it in the simplicity of the composition while not impeding views from within. Additional entrances were created on the first floor at the centers of the south and east wings by converting existing single rooms into new vestibules. These connections provide accessible ramps and ensure that the courtyard has adequate egress capacity for a large number of people.

Below the terrace, a broad expanse of paving connects the terrace to the usable courtyard. The central focus is a large round plaza, featuring a circular fountain surrounded by a ring of planters with integrated bench seating, ledge seating and trees. The planters rise 3.5 feet to accommodate root depth, and together with the trees, provide shade and a sense of enclosure within the larger courtyard. While the fountain is smaller than the historic one due to structural limitations, the overall circular plaza recalls the general scale and original intent.

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The courtyard’s new walkways, accessible entrances, plantings and grass, 2026.

Photos by

Sean Greene

A paved walkway at the courtyard perimeter recalls the original perimeter drive. A sloped planter area separates the walkway from the building facade, assuring the privacy of adjacent offices. Gone are the unsightly utility buildings. What had been contained in the previous garage roof structures is now blended in with the landscape. The walkway is edged by a low precast concrete wall that provides no shortage of seating while defining a boundary for occupiable areas. Plantings in the perimeter zones create a buffer and keep foot traffic at a comfortable distance from occupied offices while also providing an attractive view from within.

Multiple curved paths are reminiscent of walks around the U.S. Capitol Grounds, and the original lawn areas have been reinstated for casual foot traffic and informal picnic-style use. All hardscapes were selected for compatibility with the historic building and grounds, as well as for durability and ease of maintenance. Plant materials were selected for their aesthetic quality, suitability for sustainability, and environmental benefits.

Connection Restored

The Cannon Renewal corrected over 11 decades of hard continuous use and eras of adaptations later plagued by serious safety, health, environmental and operations issues for its 2,000 regular building occupants and countless others.

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The recently renewed Cannon Building and courtyard, 2026.

Photos by

Sean Greene

Gone are the visible air shafts, standing water near dysfunctional drains, outdated mechanical systems, dingy stone with missing joints, dark corridors blocked where natural light once existed, failing climate controls, faulty and aging plumbing, and inefficient lighting, to name a few.

The Cannon courtyard today is a tangible, visible and usable improvement restoring the historic relationship between building and landscape. It is now, as intended, serving as the heart of the building.