RFK Courtyard Neighborhood
**Google Maps · CS01 + HE03-L · EC04 + CB01 · Quay courtyards QB01–QB02 · Neighborhood detail ND01 · Wing roof gardens RG01 · Courtyard life CI01 · Ground connections GR01 · Fountain roundabout RB01.** Geographic concept placement. Current detailed model · Edit or connect ChatGPT. H38 amphitheater views below.
RFK courtyard neighborhood
Washington, D.C. · Anacostia River
The RFK study brings a connected network of streets, intimate courtyard blocks and a lively riverwalk into one piece of the city.
CS01 design edition · 27 October 2026
H38 riverwalk amphitheater · Atmospheric concept, not a measured model view
**10,004 homes**Full modeled housing scenario
**5,002 larger homes**Two bedrooms or more · illustrative mix
**1,000 four-bedroom homes**1,700 sf per home in the scenario
Look at the buildings around the courtyards.
The District’s RFK renderings show large, boxy building volumes. Several wrap around courtyards. The distinction is how those blocks are made: large corridor-based complexes versus many small point-access buildings sharing a garden.
[](https://rfk-waterfront-courtyard-urbanist.aliciapederson.chatgpt.site/assets/RFK-master-plan-esplanade.jpeg)
**Large, boxy building volumes** Long façades and deep-looking building masses suggest the conventional double-loaded corridor type: a long internal hallway with apartments on both sides.
RFK Campus Master Plan · Figure 1.18 · p. 23
[](https://rfk-waterfront-courtyard-urbanist.aliciapederson.chatgpt.site/assets/RFK-master-plan-aerial.jpeg)
**Courtyards within large complexes** Look at the courtyard blocks marked 1 and 2 in the foreground. Each reads as a single, continuous development organized around long corridors, rather than a fine-grained assembly of many point-access buildings.
RFK Campus Master Plan · Figure 1.4 · p. 6
A block made of many buildings
Courtyard Urbanist proposes adjoining, narrow buildings around a shared garden. Each has its own street entrance and compact stair-and-lift core, serving a small group of homes on each landing. That changes the building grain, the route from street to home, and the opportunity for apartments with windows toward both street and courtyard.
**A courtyard-shaped complex and a courtyard block assembled from many point-access buildings are different housing types.**
Explore the Courtyard Urbanist buildings ↗
Images: District of Columbia, RFK Campus Master Plan. Tap either image to view the complete supplied page. These exterior renderings show massing, not floor plans; the corridor arrangements described here are a typological reading, not verified interior layouts.
Riverwalk amphitheater
The H38 study introduces a riverwalk amphitheater with stepped seating, planted edges and a covered performance stage on the water. Cafés and a tree-lined upper promenade sit behind the audience.
[](https://rfk-waterfront-courtyard-urbanist.aliciapederson.chatgpt.site/assets/H38-riverwalk-actual-model.png)
H38 · Actual model capture, 13 October 2026. This image documents the modeled amphitheater; the atmospheric rendering above illustrates its intended character.
Stage mooring, accessible circulation, river levels, flood conditions and performance operations require further design.
Stadium and streets
A continuous arrival from the bridge, a planted boulevard and smaller streets around courtyard blocks.
The recovered H36 district model carries forward the stadium, the redesigned bridge approach and 60-foot boulevard, with a 40-foot stadium ring and 32-foot shared streets. The stadium forecourt is organized around two lawn panels.
The combined proposal contains 616 buildings. Hill East has 70 buildings in nine blocks, with four-, five- and six-story main volumes, coordinated mansards, broken mansards, terraces and parapets, and 32 raised wings in eight blocks. The shallow C1 block remains without new wings. Streets, garden walks and all 72,498 square feet of shared Hill East gardens are retained.
Five buildings along the stadium-facing fronts of blocks 48 and 49 have selective seventh-floor sections, set back six feet from their garden-facing edges. These upper sections add 13,623 square feet of residential floor area. The other 541 buildings are unchanged, including the existing CB01 courtyard block.
The full housing scenario provides **10,004 homes**, including 1,000 four-bedroom homes and 5,002 homes with two or more bedrooms. It uses an illustrative 890-square-foot average private home, a 91% residential efficiency assumption, and a 50/50 commercial–residential split of enclosed ground-floor area. About 1.02 million square feet is allocated to commercial uses. This modeled estimate includes Hill East and is not a permitted housing yield. Calculation and assumptions · Building area schedule.
The tapered East Capitol approach, connected streets, planted courtyard gardens and inhabited quay blocks remain. Lady Justice and Lady Anacostia mark the proposed bridge gateway. The waterfront amphitheater remains a separate concept.
H36 stadium, streets and gateway model · Before the H38 amphitheater and stage addition.
The redesigned bridge arrival. Model geometry is conceptual; traffic, bridge engineering, surveyed grades and accessibility remain unresolved.
What about parking?
Useful parking can be part of a walkable neighborhood without dominating its streets or making every household pay for more spaces than it needs.
Courtyard Urbanist proposes a mix of limited ground-floor garages, on-street spaces and shared structured parking distributed among the blocks. Shops, home entrances and gardens should remain prominent, with vehicle access placed to protect pedestrian routes. Shared facilities can serve homes and businesses at different times of day.
**If D.C. is serious about controlling housing costs and promoting walkability, it should cap residential parking at one space per home.** That is a ceiling, not a minimum or a promise of an assigned space. Homes close to Metro and daily destinations should be able to function with less parking.
Parking takes land, construction and maintenance. Underground garages add excavation and structural work. EPA’s parking guidance explains the development costs of excess supply; USDOT’s parking reform guidance describes how managing and sharing parking can support walking and transit.
[](https://rfk-waterfront-courtyard-urbanist.aliciapederson.chatgpt.site/assets/Selected-Ground-Floor-Parking.png)
**Ground-floor parking with a separate pedestrian entrance**
This 60-by-77-foot study illustrates nine spaces, a separate pedestrian entrance, stair, lift and a street-facing room. It includes compact spaces, some 16 feet deep, and requires coordinated housing, vehicle-movement, accessibility and structural checks. It is a prototype, not parking fitted to RFK.
**Shared parking behind active streetfronts**
Two building cores and retained shopfronts share a vehicle entrance and a 24-foot maneuvering aisle. The drawing illustrates 14 spaces, including compact and accessible-space reservations, with courts above part of the parking. Full vehicle trips, structure, grades and local approvals remain to be resolved; this is not an RFK capacity count.
Inspect the model and plan.
The detailed 3D neighborhood opens automatically on Google Maps, showing the H36 façades, roofs, stadium and gateway monuments with the radial East Capitol approach, Hill East and courtyard infill additions. Use Plan view to inspect the current design from above.
**Version note:** The latest recovered amphitheater views are H38. The current model combines the retained H36 district with the EC04 approach, HE03-L lower-wing Hill East, five stadium-facing seventh-floor sections and retained CB01 and quay courtyard blocks. The separate historical H36 reference and H38 images remain available; the H38 amphitheater is not included in the interactive model. It is shown with its own revision label.
Open current neighborhood model ↗
Full-detail model: approximately 35 MB compressed / 100 MB uncompressed. Opens automatically in the map above; desktop recommended. Requires WebGL.
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This is an independent Courtyard Urbanist concept, not an adopted development plan. Dwelling layouts and engineering are unresolved. Earlier H17 home totals and land figures are superseded and are not presented as the program for this revision.