Australia's dilapidated embassy in Washington DC is set to be replaced with a $237 million environmentally sensitive building, maintaining a presence in the city's diplomatic precinct with a new contemporary design.
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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced Bates Smart - joint creators of Melbourne's Federation Square - will design the new building, set to include an expansive central glass atrium, a large open public space looking towards the White House, an exhibition gallery and function area.
The existing 1960s Massachusetts Avenue building at Scott Circle has been wrapped in scaffolding since 2014, with the cost of required renovations to improve amenity and occupational health and safety considered equivalent to the cost of a new building.
Protective measures were erected around the building amid fears pieces of its exterior could fall to the ground.
The original building, designed by Bates Smart and McCutcheon, was opened in 1969 with a symmetrical facade and Australian timber interiors.
The firm contributed to the new Australian Embassy in Berlin as well major domestic projects including the new Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and Sydney University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences building.
Funding for the project was announced as part of the 2015-16 federal budget, with $236.9 million allocated over seven years to replace the existing embassy, including demolition and temporary relocation of staff during the construction period.
Work in Washington will begin in October 2019, with an expected completion date of November 2021.
The cost will in part come from the sale of former embassy buildings in Jakarta and Bangkok.
Ms Bishop said the new embassy design would "promote an enduring vision of a contemporary and innovative Australia, paying tribute to the Australian landscape".
State of the art design features will be used throughout the new building in order to achieve the highest global environmental design standards.
"The government's decision to construct a new building on the existing embassy site will continue our presence in the heart of the Washington diplomatic precinct," she said.
"Australia's relationship with the United States is one of our most significant, strategic and long-standing.
"In 1940 Richard Casey was sent to Washington DC by then prime minister Robert Menzies – Australia's first diplomat posted outside the Commonwealth – highlighting the priority Australia placed on our relationship with the United States."
Nearby 16th Street North West was the heart of Washington's original embassy precinct, in part because of its close proximity to the White House.
Australian Ambassador Joe Hockey's official residence is on Cleveland Avenue North West, near the Naval Observatory, the historic residence of the United States vice president.
