Tech Square 3 Reaches Major Milestone

Tech Square 3, officially named George Tower | Scheller Tower, will reach a major milestone on Monday, Jan. 12, offering the campus community access to the first three floors of the new facility.

It will be open during the week from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with the following amenities available to students, faculty, and staff:

• A main lobby with a student-staffed information desk.

• Kaldi's Coffee.

• The Porch, a street-level gathering area with kinetic doorways opening along Fifth Street.

• A cantilevered monumental stairway, a signature architectural element connecting the lobby to the second floor.

• 11 classrooms across the second and third floors.

• Huddle rooms and conference rooms.

• A blue, green, and earth-tone interior color palette with an assortment of furniture styles, providing a variety of spaces for both individual study and group collaboration.

• Restrooms on all three floors.

• Elevator access to the second and third floors.

• A landscaped gravel courtyard providing bistro seating and shade trees.

• Parking is available, with 31 daily visitor spaces bookable through ParkMobile, including two ADA-accessible spaces and six electric vehicle charging spaces. Additional Georgia Tech permit parking options are located nearby. For more information, contact [email protected] or call 404.894.0061.

The two towers - the 14-story Scheller Tower housing graduate and executive business programs, and the 18-story George Tower, home to the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering - are expected to be fully operational by fall semester 2026, contributing more than 400,000 square feet of new research and collaboration space and expanding Georgia Tech's capacity for interdisciplinary innovation in the heart of Midtown.

About the Building

The new facility serves as a model for sustainable, low-carbon design and houses key environmental and performance features:

Low-Carbon Construction

• The carbon emissions embedded in the structural materials are half that of typical construction for a similarly sized Atlanta building.

• The concrete mix incorporates fly ash in place of a significant portion of cement, reducing carbon output and diverting fly ash from the landfill.

• The unitized portion of the curtain wall was shop-fabricated and glazed in North Georgia by Georgia residents, supporting the local economy and allowing better construction quality and a quicker delivery time.

Efficient Energy Performance

• Most interior spaces are designed to receive ample natural daylight, making electric lighting optional during daytime hours.

• The building is designed for all-electric operation. As Georgia Tech and the state of Georgia transition toward zero-carbon electricity sources, the building's operations will easily transfer.

• When the facility fully opens in the fall, it is expected to use about one-quarter of the energy of a comparably sized existing building in Atlanta.

Smart Systems

• Integrated monitoring systems will track energy and water usage in real time.

• A central operations platform will allow Infrastructure and Sustainability teams to fine-tune performance and maintain an eco-efficient environment.

Innovative Water Reuse

• Every drop of water within the building footprint will be captured, recycled, and reused for cooling and toilet flushing. This includes rainwater, HVAC condensation, and water from irrigated areas such as the fourth-floor green roof.

• As a result, the building's consumption of municipal water is projected to be one-seventh that of a typical non-residential Georgia Tech building.

• A dedicated stormwater cistern stores clean water and releases sediment-laden water slowly into the Atlanta storm sewer system, improving downstream water quality.

Support for Low-Impact Transportation

• To encourage walking, biking, and transit use, the building includes a secure indoor bike storage room accommodating more than 180 bicycles.

Bird-Safe Design

• To support urban wildlife and reduce hazards for migratory birds, the first four floors of the building feature bird-safe window striping, a proven mitigation strategy that makes glass more visible to birds in flight.

• These subtle patterns help prevent collisions, especially during migration seasons when reflections and transparency can disorient birds.

• Combined with the building's extensive daylighting strategy, these measures create a safe and ecologically responsible presence along Fifth Street and Tech Square.

Because of these features, the building will be submitted for LEED Platinum and Four Peach certification, the highest Georgia Peach Green Building Rating, which recognizes buildings owned or managed by the state of Georgia that optimize energy performance, increase the demand for materials and furnishings produced in Georgia, improve environmental quality in the state, conserve energy, protect the state's natural resources, and reduce the burden on the state's water supply.

More information:

Scheller College of Business

H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering