Architecture

Capitol Architecture

The Virginia State Capitol was designed by Thomas Jefferson while he was serving as the United States Minister to France in Paris. Jefferson modeled the Capitol after the Maison Carree, an ancient Roman temple located in Nimes, France. He secured the services of Charles-Louis Clerisseau, a well-known French authority on Classical buildings, as the Capitol’s draftsman.

Jefferson modeled the Capitol after this Roman temple in Nimes, France.

Jefferson once wrote that architecture is my delight. After the Revolution, Virginians instinctively turned to Jefferson and asked him to design a new state Capitol, combining economy with elegance and dignity.

Jefferson was responsible for recommending the Shockoe hilltop location, choosing the Classical Revival temple form, and arranging the interior floor plans to accommodate the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Virginia’s new Commonwealth government.

The Virginia State Capitol introduced the Classical Revival temple style to the modern world. The first state house designed in the new Republic, it has inspired countless public buildings for over 200 years. The Capitol was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

The Capitol Rotunda and dome

At the center of the Capitol is the Rotunda, a two-story space capped by a dome (30 feet in diameter) and illuminated by skylights. The builders constructed the dome beneath the pitch of the gable roof, which makes it invisible from the exterior of the building. The dome was added to the building in 1794. Jefferson made no reference to a dome in his first written description for this central space, and whether adding the dome was a later idea of Jefferson’s or a modification made by Samuel Dobie, the actual builder of the Capitol, remains unknown. We do know Jefferson intended for a statue of Washington to be placed on this spot.

Between 1904 and 1906, architect John Kevan Peebles completed Jefferson’s original architectural intent by adding front steps to the building. In addition, Peebles complemented the original Capitol with compatible classical wings for each house of the Virginia General Assembly, flanking the original temple form structure.

The Capitol Extension, completed in 2007, created additional space and a new public entrance to the Capitol.

Between 2004 and 2007, a 27,000-square-foot underground extension beneath the Capitol’s South Lawn, accessible through the main entrance on Bank Street, was designed and constructed to provide additional meeting and exhibition spaces, a visitor center, gift shop, and café. The expansion is largely invisible architecture in deference to the classical symmetry of the existing building. Simultaneously, the historic Capitol received a major restoration intended to preserve this national treasure and bring it up to 21st century standards for a working seat of government.