Johann von Goethe referred to architecture as “frozen music.” Donald Lococo studied to be a concert pianist at an early age and considers the experience foundational to his education as an architect. He found the measured cadence, crescendo, and fluidity of music in visual form within architecture and his work reflects that artistry. Donald Lococo received a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Michigan in 1989 and began his own practice seventeen years ago. Architecture is the hub of his mental process and the prism through which he sees possibilities in unrecognized beauty. Mr. Lococo’s clients include former President Bi ll Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Thoughtful design that daily welcomes and serves is achieved by the architect through constant collaborative conversations with the client. The final design is informed by the client’s pragmatic needs, budget constraints, and commanding vision. DLA focuses exclusively on designs for single family homes and additions. The benefit of our specialization is expertise. We are extremely adept in all architectural styles and historic periods. DLA is a small, client oriented, personal firm in Georgetown with local access to the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Let your eye be witness in support of these words as you view the photographs of our work.

• OFFICE ADRESS

  3413 1/2 M Street NW
 Suite A
  
Washington, DC 20007

  Ph (202) 337-4422

  Fx (202) 337-2622
  email
 Donald@donaldlococoarchitects.com

• BILLING ADRESS

  5109 Wissioming Road

  Bethesda, MD 20816

DIRECTIONS

The studio overlooks Frances Scott Key Bridge from M Street in the District of Columbia’s historic Regency Row Building of Georgetown. We have designated parking and are minutes from Rosslyn Metro station

A library is born wherever reader and book become one. Libraries need not be in conventional spaces and hallways are perfect locations for bookcases. Large areas consigned to other use can contain intimate reading space made possible by built-in bookcases where consideration of the diverse shapes and vivid colors of the books themselves remain the main character.

Casework, interior cabinetry and trim, is a major consideration in the DLA design process. Well conceived casework blurs the line between furniture and architecture. Along with trim, it visually organizes interiors. These photographs illustrate our range of styles and some exemplify inexpensive ways to express these elements using modern materials and methods. Casework is the grace note of a DLA design.

The kitchen is the universal center of gravity in a home. DLA has designed more than 150 kitchens working with interior decorators, kitchen designers, or on our own utilizing components by top furniture makers or from Ikea. We’ve designed for the serious cook, or caterer, or client who disdains cooking. DLA articulates kitchens in almost every architectural language which is included in our basic fee. Whether boiling an egg or preparing crème anglaise a DLA design masters kitchen choreography achieving the task gracefully.

This cottage on the Severn River in the Maryland countryside is approached by a bridge leading to the main level comprised of a foyer, common area, and screened porch. The DLA design placed continuous glass unimpeded by transparent kitchen wall cabinets allowing a tranquil view of the surrounding woods and river below. The common area ceiling features mortise and tenon trusses. The finishes are dominated by exposed wood sustaining the sequestered coziness of a tree house.

Like the human face, greet us, signal character, and create enduring first impression. A DLA design considers and encompasses the whole, the surrounding environment, the angle of approach to the entry, the untapped extraordinary.

Modernism is one of our favorite venues. DLA is a recipient of the national A.I.A. award for small projects modern house and was published in Elle Décor and Spaces for our modern designs. Dial towards or away from stark modernism and DLA brings the same sensibilities to it as to traditional architecture. The pure unembellished line is our forte.

A foyer should function as the opening paragraph of a good story or as the first notes of a symphony. It should capture the imagination and hint at the character of what lies beyond. A DLA designed foyer creates an indelible sense of arrival and is, in itself, an invitation.

Scale and proportion are critical in small spaces. The difference between crowded and cozy or uninviting and intimate lies in exquisite use of space inherent to a DLA design. Our designs for small spaces employ innovative touches to expand utility within a commonly overlooked opportunity.

This property was saved from becoming a fifteen home subdivision outside Middleburg, Virginia on land Washington, Jefferson, and Madison knew. The home stood in neglect for many years until brought to life by the DLA design. Masons were tasked to make the stone work look as though “a farmer built the walls during the non-planting season,” and the walls now seem fabricated with a primitive trowel using stones gathered cart by wooden cart. The final design is a tribute to the faded yet present past and leaves logical locations for expansion into coming decades.

Parts of this over 250 acre estate named Creek Hill date back to pre civil war. It is comprised of main historic home, Ice house, a lesser house, weathervane and historic dependencies; One of which were used as a hospital during the civil war. It is an important home in American history. It also includes barn, stables and several structures to support purchased in the 1950’s by a local family who owns adjacent acreage, the home is located in the heart of Virginia’s horse country and parts of the estate are still used to raise livestock. The home had endured a barrage of renovations by past and present owners.

The program for the family of five nearly doubled the size of the main home and took over four years to create. In the design, utilitarian spaces are allocated to a separate stone structure that was connected through the kitchen with a glassy hyphen addition. The property access, initially off of Snickersville turnpike is rerouted to a new entrance gate off of Mountville road creating a more graceful procession to the estate (see site plan). Although sizable and involved, the program utility rooms and the garage was primarily allocated to the new building. Reserving the house proper for rooms used for eating , dining and gathering including a simple second floor plan of 4 bedrooms (see plan). The breakfast room and the master bedroom takes advantage of the South western exposure that sunsets over mountains familiar with the owners childhood. In this renovation, other dependencies were renovated for use as art studios and sleeping quarters. (see site plan).

This home enjoys an opportunity for views in every direction from Edgerton Bay to a rare expanse of farmland on Martha’s Vineyard. The clients envisioned their home as an heirloom to be handed from generation to generation, each room holding a family memory safe. The DLA design incorporates cherished New England details of shingle, bead board, and other timeless elements making the house appear unchanged and unchanging. Expansions of glass open to a screened wing breakfast room inviting the family and their guests outside to the pool during long lazy summers.

Sensitive architecture doesn’t end at exterior walls, it flows into the surrounding space as if fostered by an unseen hand. A DLA design views terraces and porches as an extension of the home, an exterior room, where serenity thrives through a natural union of architecture and nature.

Set in the desirable enclave of Kenwood outside Washington, D.C., this Eisenhower era split-level was entirely reinterpreted by DLA into a rustic French country home. Rough stucco and stone keep the front exterior from unwelcoming formality. All interior spaces were reshuffled to accommodate life in a new century with a billiard room and gathering place now in unused attic space. The client now enjoys the blessings of familiarity reimagined.

Principles of form and space in classical and Greek revival architecture were employed in this Chevy Chase home expansion. The sound of a bell rung in the dining room reached the servant’s kitchen which constituted the only informal space of a past century’s design. The DLA solution established two symmetrical wings flanking the center classical revival structure while remaining loyal to revival trim work. Terraces added on three sides introduced exterior living space where none existed. Library paneling salvaged from a century-old Baltimore library was reworked to appear installed by vanished craftsmen who embellished the original structure. The seamless result of this design enforces the character of this home as impervious to changing political administrations or the passage of time.

The DLA design of this home in the Westmoreland enclave of Bethesda, Maryland appears to pre-date its neighbors, but is new construction. This stately Tudor set among two-hundred year-old trees seems to have withstood the seasons since the trees were saplings. Tudor spaces have a meandering additive nature and the DLA design recreates this with the positioning of the front door and room entrances at a forty-five degree angle. Stucco and true half timbers work within the language of this style and architectural components appear added with the passage of generations.

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Pressed against the limits of Chesapeake Bay, local ordinances limited renovation of this Annapolis weekend retreat knit into the landscape near the historic Maryland State House and United States Naval Academy. Expansion of the existing footprint was impossible. The DLA solution eliminated interior walls and a massive fireplace creating singularity of space now embraced by a continuous ribbon of glass doors and sidelights gathering light and reclaiming lost views of the Annapolis River. The front exterior aspect was redirected toward the water and sounds of the river greet all interior spaces spilling on to a continuous deck. Two new second floor bedrooms pinwheel around a tower which opens to the exterior and sustains the nautical feel of coastal architecture while affording views of passing boats.

Our portfolio commonly presents large homes, but DLA design creates renewed visions for smaller homes, including Donald Lococo’s own home. The project may center on a kitchen or family room renovation, but the art of a DLA design lies in strategies to achieve maximum results on limited budgets. Many of our projects improve flawed floor plans of unsellable homes, putting the previously unattainable “Sold” on the realtor’s sign.

Overlooking Rock Creek Park where Eleanor Roosevelt rode her horse on autumn mornings, this classical French style home with precast façade broke ground in the late summer of 2011. Mandatory compliance with the District of Columbia’s stringent tree and slope overlay parameters along with this sylvan property’s water shed onto federal parkland created a distinct challenge. The DLA solution involved terracing the land away from the home and respecting the existing foliage while allowing Rock Creek Park to hold the house like a jewel in a setting.

This 1970s home near the Potomac River is located at the end of a subdivision where it opens to parkland. The original structure designed with small windows limited interior light and failed to feature the parkland perspective. The DLA solution created four distinct architectural layers blending tonality over the existing brick façade. The interior footprint was augmented by only 366 square feet to achieve this change. The first layer addresses the request for an office, foyer, expanded living room, and master bedroom; the second layer, one of transparency, gathers more interior light from the forested park where it’s now possible to watch wind passing through the trees; the third layer of decks and raised terraces creates newly available exterior living space; the final fourth layer of board railings and vertical stud curtains provides privacy. The layers, though manifest, are not continuous and peel away at certain points to show deeper layers or the beauty of the original brick.

Pending completion fall 2012; This new home of stone and board and batten on Georgetown Pike in McLean, Virginia joins an existing barn among mature trees. The DLA design pays homage to the barn and is envisioned as a series of patchwork additions on a rustic stone base so the edifice does not overwhelm the eye. The final result will marry the new home to the existing barn, its abiding and awaiting partner.