The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

The brick chimney rising above the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown reaches higher than the rest of the hotel, a heavy stack left over from the nineteen thirty-one incinerator plant that occupied this site. Architects kept the industrial structure, threading steel beams through the original masonry to hold the weight of guest rooms. In the main lobby, the heavy iron gears from the old trash compactor remain bolted to the floor, where they function as a coffee table for arriving travelers.