The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs
Charlottesville, Virginia
The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs is a mixed-use office building that anchors the western end of Charlottesville’s historic pedestrian mall designed by Lawrence Halprin. Adjacent to the mall, a sloped walkway and steps lead to a treed granite terrace. The stepped landscape doubles as an amphitheater, allowing visitors to look down onto a triangular fountain that reflects the sky.
The building’s design responds to a challenging site with an eighteen-foot grade change, and the surrounding historic urban fabric. The building spirals around a central exterior courtyard and fountain, stepping down to reveal exterior roof gardens at each floor. Each floor opens to a distinct green roof garden planted with native species. Ipe wood decking and weathering steel planters with benches define each unique terrace. Rainwater captured on the terraces connects to a basement cistern for reuse in irrigation. The project was awarded a LEED Platinum certification for its environmental design.
Images by Alan Karchmer.
Collaborators:
Wolf Ackerman Architecture + Design
Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs
Charlottesville, Virginia
The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs is a mixed-use office building that anchors the western end of Charlottesville’s historic pedestrian mall designed by Lawrence Halprin. Adjacent to the mall, a sloped walkway and steps lead to a treed granite terrace. The stepped landscape doubles as an amphitheater, allowing visitors to look down onto a triangular fountain that reflects the sky.
The building’s design responds to a challenging site with an eighteen-foot grade change, and the surrounding historic urban fabric. The building spirals around a central exterior courtyard and fountain, stepping down to reveal exterior roof gardens at each floor. Each floor opens to a distinct green roof garden planted with native species. Ipe wood decking and weathering steel planters with benches define each unique terrace. Rainwater captured on the terraces connects to a basement cistern for reuse in irrigation. The project was awarded a LEED Platinum certification for its environmental design.
Images by Alan Karchmer.
Collaborators:
Wolf Ackerman Architecture + Design
Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
