The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech is the state’s first Living Building Challenge certified project and the 28th in the world, redefining what’s possible in regenerative architecture. Designed by The Miller Hull Partnership and Lord Aeck Sargent, the building exemplifies the highest standards of sustainability, transparency, and performance.

As part of the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most rigorous proven performance standard, the Kendeda Building was required to meet all seven performance categories, or "Petals." The Hydrotech Urban Agriculture Garden Roof and Ultimate Assembly played a key role in a few of those categories, including the use of Red List-compliant materials, restoring nature, and net-positive water use. 

The building features both green roof and pedestal pavers above Hydrotech® Monolithic Membrane 6125®. The membrane is a key component that keeps the structure watertight for the lifetime of the building and offers 40% recycled content. 

The Garden Roof® Assembly utilizes a custom LiteTop® Urban Agriculture engineered soil blend developed specifically for Georgia’s climate to retain stormwater and support food production. The rooftop garden includes a honeybee apiary, pollinator garden, and blueberry orchard. This space is not open to the public; however, the garden is maintained weekly by student volunteers who manage plant selection and harvesting. Wood Tile pavers provide walking paths for green roof and apiary maintenance.

The Ultimate Assembly® amenity deck offers a place for students and staff to gather, study, or watch the bees hard at work. Placed in an open joint configuration, the concrete pavers facilitate the flow of water to concealed drains that is reused on site. It also offers the maintenance crew easy access to the substrate for any future alterations or work. 

The Kendeda Building stands as a beacon of innovation, proving that sustainable and regenerative buildings are not only possible, they’re essential.