NCPC is the central planning agency for the federal government in the National Capital Region. We review projects and master plans, develop plans for ongoing and emerging issues in the capital city, and bring together stakeholders to collaborate on projects. Our work fundamentally influences the design and experience of places throughout the capital, so we embraced space as the theme of this year’s report.
PublicSpace
Public spaces and streetscapes are an integral part of our daily life. Creating connected, accessible, and well-designed spaces reinforces the image and experience of our communities and the national capital.
NCPC began working on the Monumental Core Streetscape Framework and Lighting Policy to provide updated, consistent guidance for the streetscape elements—such as benches, trees, and light poles—in and around the National Mall. This initiative also looks at how new lighting technologies can be used to shape how people see and experience the capital at night.
Several projects NCPC reviewed proposed ways to better connect and improve several of Washington’s well-known parks and destinations.
SecureSpace
Even as we look for ways to accommodate more people and events in beloved public spaces, these same spaces are increasingly vulnerable to existing and emerging threats. Effectively balancing great design and programming with security and access is an important goal for NCPC.
NCPC, in coordination with the American Society of Landscape Architects, hosted Open to the Public, a public forum and interagency workshop that explored emerging threats in parks, plazas, and streets, and how good design and operational responses could address these threats.

Time and Space

The new Master Clock facility on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory will ensure that your smartphone stays on time.
Learn More
The Commission reviewed several important security projects that proposed fences. NCPC’s feedback focused on public access and how to best incorporate these fences into the landscape.
MemorialSpace
The capital’s commemorative landscape continues to expand. NCPC explored new approaches to commemoration and began an initiative to update plans for where future memorials could locate and how they should address the nation’s memorial landscape.
What happens when a commemorative space becomes outer space? The Smithsonian Institution showed how when it sponsored a massive projection of Apollo 11 onto the Washington Monument to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. This popular event represented a non-traditional, temporary approach to commemoration that did not need any permanent space, an idea that NCPC will incorporate into its update to the Memorials and Museums Master Plan.
NCPC completed review of several new memorials that will impact and enhance existing landscapes.

The Commission’s final review of the National World War I Memorial sought to ensure its design successfully integrated with the existing Pershing Park and Pershing Memorial, and a balance between contemplative space and more active uses on the site.

The National Native American Veterans Memorial will be located on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The design takes visitors on a path through existing natural areas to a site above existing wetlands that invokes sacred circles and compass points.

WWI Memorial Native American Vets

Percentage of Total Submissions by Location
0%

Washington, DC

0%

Maryland

0%

Virginia

OfficeSpace
Regional federal facilities house thousands of workers carrying out diverse missions. Ensuring adequate and appropriate workspace to meet future federal needs, in a rapidly changing environment, is a continuing concern for NCPC.
The Federal Workplace Element establishes policy guidance on the location and design of federal spaces. This policy document incorporates new information on the changing work environment, with technology enabling people to be on the move, and influencing workspace designs that are flexible and open. And, while federal facilities and the employees and contractors at these sites remain a critical pillar of the region’s economic activity, continuing diversification and growth in the regional economy is also influencing the federal workplace.
The Commission reviewed two master plans for major campuses that will provide more space for federal research and foreign missions.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s White Oak Campus is poised for new growth. The approved master plan will strengthen the campus’ setting around a commons (courtyard), while preserving views and open space.
Learn More



The new Foreign Missions Center on part of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center site will enable the State Department to accommodate future requests for new and expanding diplomatic missions in the capital city.
Learn More





ParkingSpace
Parking is only one component of addressing the need for connected, multi-modal transportation strategies to serve federal facilities and destinations in the National Capital Region.
NCPC released an updated Federal Transportation Element for public review. It tackles the impacts of new transportation technologies from ride-sharing to scooters, continues to support multi-modal approaches to regional transportation, and provides more refined requirements for parking at federal facilities.
Incorporating multiple ways—transit, walking, bikes, and cars—to reach sites is an important concern the Commission considers when reviewing submissions, as highlighted in these examples.
Naval Support Facility Suitland
Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge


About the Commission About the Staff FY 2019 Budget Info