The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs (CODE) is a new sustainable, mixed-use project in downtown Charlottesville, comprised of a new public plaza and 215,000 square feet of multi-use space, including a strategic combination of co-working, office space, shared amenities, and retail. 

The investor behind the development, a University of Virginia (UVA) graduate, wanted to give back to the community by providing a place where locally grown innovations in information technology, clean energy, and allied fields, could blossom into locally based businesses, rather than seeing those ideas and human talent relocate outside of the region. Building the project on the mall would reinforce a commitment to walkability but posed the tricky challenge of integrating a project of the requisite size with the small scale of the mall. In response, the design team introduced a novel solution: stair-stepping the massing up from the mall towards the intersection of Main and Water streets, then spiral up further to meet the scale of Water Street, with a cascade of occupiable terraces and green roofs.