Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center

The 42-acre site is the cornerstone of the National Harbor Development located on the Potomac River just outside of Washington, DC. During construction, which began in June 2005, the project was the fourth-largest hotel under construction in the world. Upon its completion in April 2008, the 2.4-million-square-foot, 20-story high-rise facility became the largest hotel and convention complex on the Eastern Seaboard. The elements of the project include 2,000 hotel rooms, over 470,000-SF of convention and meeting space, and parking for 2,600 cars. An 18-story, 65,000-SF, 1.65-acre multi-level glass atrium was constructed in the signature style for which the Gaylord Hotels brand is known. Each hotel tower was designed to move independently for wind and seismic conditions. The glass atrium is pinned on the north side and floats on the south side on a series of giant Teflon pads. Because construction of the hotel facility was so complex, two concrete batch plants were built on-site for the more than 200,000 cubic yards of concrete that was used to erect the structure. In addition, more than 3,700 tons of steel; 50,000 sprinkler heads; 57,500 light fixtures; and 9,934 doors were incorporated into the construction of this hospitality complex.

Owner: Gaylord Entertainment
Architect: Gensler
Contract Value: $865M
Square Footage: 2,400,000