White House East Wing expansion proposal includes changes dubbed ‘Upper West Wing,’ too

Architect Shalom Baranes shows elevation drawings for a new $400 million ballroom at the White House to members of the National Capital Planning Commission on January 8 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

A “grand stair” and new spaces for utilities, food service and deliveries are among the newly disclosed details for President Donald Trump’s sprawling East Wing expansion presented to a commission with oversight of the building plans on Thursday.

For the first time, a proposal for the addition of a second story to the West Wing Colonnade to match plans for a similar two-story colonnade connecting the East Wing to the Executive Mansion was also revealed.

Trump characterized this addition as an “Upper West Wing” in remarks to the New York Times published later.

Speaking publicly about the project for the first time since he joined the East Wing project team in November, architect Shalom Baranes offered fresh insight into the size and scope of the sweeping space, which received mild pushback from some members of an overall Trump-friendly National Capital Planning Commission.

The expansion will feature a ballroom of approximately 22,000 square feet, which can accommodate 1,000 seated guests, and the overall size will be roughly 89,000 square feet, he said.

The grand staircase will descend into a foyer, Baranes said, and there will be a new office suite for the first lady and her staff, who have been displaced by the demolition of the East Wing, along with a new movie theater.

The cornice on the top of the ballroom structure will match the height of the existing White House mansion. It will be set back approximately 10.5 feet from the White House’s north facade, made of stone and precast concrete that will “all be painted white to match the White House, very similar finish.”

“The proposed East Wing modernization seeks to rationalize these functions in a manner that will relieve the stress by increasing connectivity, operational efficiency and by enhancing overall security. The changes will allow the White House to be experienced and to age, I think, in a much more graceful way over time,” Baranes said.

Baranes indicated that since joining the project, he has spent time “refining” the exterior facades and “further developing the interior spaces,” but that the size of the space has largely stayed the same.

Baranes described the additional West Wing Colonnade proposal as a “modest” addition that would be presented at a future hearing and would “restore a sense of symmetry” to the White House complex.

Constructive criticism

Thursday’s meeting marked the first step in a process for the ballroom to formally receive NCPC approval, which will require a public comment period and an eventual vote by commission members. But some critics have voiced concerns that the commission and many of its Trump loyalist members will rubber stamp the ballroom plans without the same scrutiny afforded to other projects.

District of Columbia Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who serves on the committee as an ex-officio member, raised concerns during the presentation about the scale of the new building, which is significantly larger than the 55,000-square-foot White House executive mansion. He described a rendering of the space as viewed from the Ellipse as “disturbing” and questioned the height and footprint.

“It still seems to me that it’s overwhelming the existing building. … Maybe it can be, and needs to be shrunk a little more,” Mendelson said. “It’s just so imbalanced.”

Speaking to CNN after the meeting, Mendelson said that he wished the plans had been “more thought through.”

He praised Baranes’ previous work in the DC area, and also he said he hoped there would be “flexibility for adjusting the size” and height of the eventual structure.

In his presentation, Baranes noted that “some foundation work” has already begun, but he indicated that the building’s footprint could still be adjusted.

Commissioner Linda Argo, who was appointed to NCPC by Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser, also expressed misgivings. “I have some concern about size and scale in a number of ways, but we’ll see,” she told the hearing.

Trump’s handpicked NCPC chairman, White House staff secretary Will Scharf, also indicated interest in seeing more detailed renderings of what the structure will look like from public street views, describing the current rendering elevation as “very stark.”

Speaking to reporters after the hourslong hearing, he said he was “quite impressed” with the plans and noted that this was the first time he had seen them.

“I think the end result is going to be of huge benefit to the entire White House complex and to the country,” he added.

Future timelines

The process for this project has differed from others. Thursday’s “information presentation” would have typically taken place for a project before ground has been broken or anything demolished, and when there are still multiple plans under consideration. With the complete demolition of the White House East Wing last fall and below-grade work well underway, there is a compressed timeline.

Pressed on that timing, White House Office of Administration Director Josh Fisher suggested that the demolition needed to proceed in order to facilitate “top secret” work. The former East Wing was placed atop a Cold War-era bunker that is expected to receive an overhaul in its next iteration.

Above-ground construction is expected to begin around April, but it’s unclear if the commission will ultimately have any sway over the plans. Scharf, who was installed as commission chairman in July, expressed hope that NCPC would play a “productive role” in the review.

He kicked off Thursday’s meeting by acknowledging “passionate comments on both sides” regarding the ballroom project, even as a handful of protesters gathered outside.

The commissioners spent significant time Thursday on minute details of other local projects, deliberating over cell phone infrastructure improvements for the National Mall, viewing multiple sets of plans for a new pedestrian and bike bridge, and receiving a presentation on the new National Zoo habitat design for Arabian Leopards gifted to the US by Saudi Arabia during the president’s recent trip to the Middle East. The commission got into the weeds with comprehensive discussion – from the merits of mesh enclosures to three different types of lamp posts.

During a conversation about the lamp posts, Scharf said that the commission’s feedback had led to “progress” and said he was “excited to see how things develop in the months ahead” after its input.

The commission meets next on Feb. 5.

CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to reporting.