When the design team at EskewDumezRipple got to work on a new mixed-use project in Charlottesville, Virginia, they knew it needed to serve as an inviting front door to the downtown mall. "CODE was designed to act as a highly visible beacon to the Charlottesville community," says Jose Alvarez, principal architect at EskewDumezRipple. The Center for Developing Entrepreneurs, or CODE, was designed to be a place where locally grown innovations in information technology and clean energy could grow into locally based business rather than relocate. 

A feeling of community continues outside, with an "outdoor workplace" experience among green roofs. The cascading green roofs cover eight garden roofs - an amenity to tenants and visitors but also a benefit to visiting birds, insects, and pollinators of all kinds, Alvarez says. The rooftop terraces and garden support more than 90 distinct species, including more than 7,000 perennials and grasses, 100 shrubs, and 75 large trees, many of which are native. The roof also captures rainwater that is then stored in two underground cisterns and used to irrigate the plants. 

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