HIGHLNE
HIGHLNE
“Crystal City? That’s closer to downtown than most of DC.”
My friend Mitchell Schear was in charge of reimagining Vornado Realty’s Crystal City and asked me if I wanted to build a bar there. “We need something cool, something with the same character your DC bars have,” he told me. Crystal City? That’s as close to DC as you can get, yet it seemed a million miles away, trapped in a 1960’s time warp. Peter Bayne, my partner at Tin Shop, and I started playing around with what might work. We met with Vornado’s team several times and walked all over Crystal City. Maybe we could do something fun there.
The name Highline RxR came from the main railway line that abuts Crystal City and a nod toward NYC’s Highline park. And RXR? Rust and Relaxation. The existing wood paneled cigar bar had tobe demolished and we embraced the concrete and exposed steel to open up the room. The landlord installed a huge Nanawall of sliding glass windows that make half of the space feel like an outdoor patio, while the interior area by the main bar feels warm and comfortable. Highline is on the second floor and the NYC subway style stairway gives no clue to the glamorous feeling above.
Geoff McNabola led the charge to build another stunning bar. Muralist Kelley Towels gave us epicimagery behind the bar and we covered it covered with industrial windows from salvage expert Carter Anderson. Chris Bebell and his team of craftsmen broke out the torches and built a wall of glass and steel with massive doors that swing open like butter. This was a team effort all the way.
