For the past year, architects at Douglas Development Corp. have been obsessing over the details of their upcoming renovation of the Woodward & Lothrop building on F Street NW. Recently, Douglas’ Eric Rosenkranz appeared before the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board, seeking a permit to construct the company’s latest revision of the plan. Using sleek computer animation, Rosenkranz treated the 11 members of the board to a simulated flyby of the building. Too many buildings in downtown Washington are capped like wedding cakes, argued Rosenkranz, with each ascending floor shaped like a rectangle and getting smaller in size. Amy Weinstein of the review board interrupted: “Is that a pejorative use of the term ‘wedding cake?’” Yes, Rosenkranz explained: From an architectural perspective, cakelike rooftops just don’t cut it. The board members agreed and voted unanimously in approval. The authorized rooftop, with its emphasis on nonrectangular geometry, looked less like a wedding cake and more like a scoop of ice cream. —Felix Gillette