Mahan Rykiel Associates was the landscape architect of record for this LEED Silver project at the Suitland Federal Center. It is a state-of-the-art GSA facility for 6,000 federal employees and a prime example of a successful transit oriented development located near the Green Line.
The complex consists of two curved wings on a one-story monolithic base connected above by a walkway. The two wings curve over and around garden courtyards, with 70,000 sf of green roof above the 4th and 5th floors. The at-grade garden is also a green roof as it is located above the parking garage. Two parking garages accomodate 3,098 cars.
The rooftop gardens are highly visible from the upper floors of the building and are connected at several points to allow pedestrian access from one building to the other. MRA was challenged to create a naturalistic, sweeping meadow accented with native trees in areas with limited soil depth and extensive shade patterns. The project was completed using a ‘design-build with bridging’ method of delivery to ensure completion for the 2010 census.
