Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Opening, Rooted in Conservation and Regenerative Design
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library officially opens on July 4, 2026, in Medora, North Dakota. Set within the rugged landscape of the Badlands, the project is an immersive, place-based experience that connects visitors to the natural environment that shaped Theodore Roosevelt’s life and legacy.
Atelier Ten led the sustainability strategy from competition onward, establishing an environmental vision rooted in conservation, stewardship, and regeneration. Designed by Snøhetta and JLG Architects, the Library set ambitious goals for Living Building Challenge and beyond, including whole-project carbon neutrality, all-electric operations, and a restored landscape able to support habitat and sequester carbon over time.
“From the outset, the project asked a question that is both technical and civic: what would it mean for a presidential library to act as a steward of its landscape? At TRPL, performance is not separate from experience. The carbon strategy, water systems, energy design, and restored prairie all reinforce the same idea: the Library is the landscape.”
— Nico Kienzl, Sr. Executive Director, Atelier Ten
Conceived as an extension of the Badlands landscape, the building is earth-sheltered, integrated into the site, and covered by a vegetated, occupiable roof that strives to replace the landscape disturbed within the building footprint. In the Badlands, where strong winds, seasonal temperature swings, and abundant sunshine present both challenges and opportunities, the earth-sheltered design helps protect the building, manage stormwater, and support thermal stability. Outdoor circulation, native planting, and carefully integrated site features invite visitors to engage directly with the landscape and reinforce the project’s ecological goals.
Aligned with Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation ethos, the project is pursuing whole project carbon neutrality, considering embodied carbon, operational carbon and site sequestration over time. Atelier Ten’s life cycle assessment informed material decisions across the building systems, including mass timber and optimized concrete mixes, contributing to a substantial reduction in upfront embodied carbon. Restored soils and native plantings are designed to capture and store atmospheric carbon while enhancing habitat, biodiversity, and site hydrology. Ground-source heat pumps, photovoltaic arrays, and renewable energy are part of an all-electric energy strategy designed to support net zero performance.
The project is targeting certification under the Living Building Challenge, one of the most rigorous performance-based sustainability frameworks in the world. It also aligns with the project’s “Four Zeroes” approach: Zero Energy, Zero Water, Zero Emissions, and Zero Waste. Together, these goals translate complex sustainability targets into a clear public narrative about conservation and regeneration.
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library offers more than a museum. It is a public landscape, educational resource, and living demonstration of conservation in practice, inviting visitors to consider Roosevelt’s legacy through the lens of the future: how buildings, landscapes, and communities can work together to restore the systems they inhabit.
Atelier Ten’s services included environmental design, benchmarking, energy analysis, and life cycle assessment. The project is aiming for Living Building Challenge, LEED Platinum, Carbon Neutral, and SITES targets.