The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial Comfort Station in Arlington, Virginia, has been honored with a DESIGNArlington Merit award, which recognizes the building for design excellence.  

The debt we owe to our countrymen and women who serve in the armed forces, and their families and loved ones who sustain them, is vast. Providing simple comforts to those who visit the sites and memorials dedicated to Americans fallen in service is just one way to express our gratitude. Page is honored that our work on this facility helps make these visits easier by providing a communal location for respite, shelter from inclement weather, restrooms, and opportunities to connect with Park Rangers for information. 

The Comfort Station was a long time in the making. For almost seventy years, due to longstanding congressional legislation that protects monument grounds, no restroom facility could be constructed. As our war veterans and their families aged and needed on-site facilities, temporary port-a-potties were set up on the grounds creating an unattractive, impermanent solution. It took an Act of Congress to authorize site use and approval by the National Capital Planning Commission for the project to proceed.

The new building is ADA compliant to accommodate supportive walkers and wheelchairs.

The granite and metal finishes of the building coordinate with the base and bronze of the Memorial, while the long-format brick takes material cues from nearby buildings. As a site on the National Register of Historic Places and a cultural landscape, new landscape features, such as shade trees, lawn, and flowering trees, blend with the preserved, character-defining features of the site. The building was designed for sustainability and is projected to save 51% in annual energy operations.

Learn more about DESIGNArlington and this Merit Award here.