Turning a Constrained Lot Into Connecticut’s First Living Building.

Perched above the treetops on a granite ridge in Norwalk, Connecticut, the HMTX World Headquarters is a serene counterpoint to the dense Northeast corridor. Faced with a steep slope, massive stone outcropping, mature forest, and a site wedged between a highway and a business park, McLennan Design transformed every constraint into a design driver—shaping a regenerative campus that touches the land as lightly as possible.

Rather than cut into the hillside, the building lifts onto slender columns, allowing wildlife to move freely beneath it and preserving a continuous green corridor across the campus. The headquarters splits into two narrow volumes that slip between trees and stone, opening every workspace to nature from multiple directions. A sheltered boardwalk weaves below and between the structures—part circulation, part outdoor experience—guiding visitors through the forest canopy in any weather.

Designed to meet the rigor of the Living Building Challenge, the project is net-positive, all-electric, and deeply biophilic—connecting people to the sound of water, the touch of living plants, and the warmth of daylight. Part workplace, part gallery, part creative retreat, it offers a rare sense of calm and inspiration.

Winner of multiple green building and design awards, HMTX stands as proof that when vision, craft, and conscience align, even the most constrained site can become a sanctuary—for people, for wildlife, and for the living future it helps imagine.