The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design
The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design
ARCHITECTS
The Miller Hull Partnership
STATUS
Built
PHOTOS
Jonathan Hillye (5), The Miller Hull Partnership (3), Gregg Willett (2)
BUDGET
$10M - 50M
SIZE
25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft
YEAR
2019
LOCATION
Atlanta, United States
CATEGORY
Educational › University
Located in the heart of Atlanta, The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech was created to foster environmental education, research, and a public forum for community outreach.
Designed by the collaboration of The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP and Lord Aeck Sargent, a Katerra Company (LAS), The Kendeda Building achieved full Living Building Certification in 2021 after proving its net positive energy and water performance during its year-long occupancy period.
As the first of its kind in the Southeast United States, the design and construction of The Kendeda Building sets a new standard for sustainability and demonstrates that Living Buildings are possible in even the most challenging climates.
The design of The Kendeda Building is inspired by the vernacular southern porch.
The project reimagines this regionally ubiquitous architectural device for the civic scale of the campus.
The Regenerative Porch performs the traditional tasks of creating a cool microclimate around the building and blurring interior and exterior conditions.
The PV canopy generates more than 100% of the building’s energy demand and captures enough rainwater to meet 100% of the water used in the building.
In addition to providing financial support for the project, the Kendeda Fund has provided ongoing funding to support programs in the building that engage local Atlanta communities beyond the university.
The atrium, lecture hall, roof garden, and multipurpose room will all be made available for community events. Georgia Tech’s mission is to maximize the impact of the building by exposing as many students as possible to the project. Tech students move on to pursue careers at the highest levels around the globe.
After learning in a building expressing such a strong position on resiliency and sustainability, they will take those values with them into their future endeavors as leaders in the STEM fields.
