WASHINGTON, DC.-The National Capital Planning Commission’s (NCPC) staff recommendations to approve the Patent Office Building’s courtyard enclosure were adopted at its public hearing on Sept. 8. The Commission has approved the glass courtyard canopy enclosure for the Patent Office Building (home to the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum), with several conditions, including reconstructing a staircase on the F Street side of the building (the original was removed in the 1930s); restoring two original cast iron fountains; developing a low-light scheme for night use of the courtyard; using low-iron glass for the enclosure; and submitting a landscape and streetscape plan.