Project Details
- Project Name
- Bank of America Plaza
- Client/Owner
- NationsBank
- Project Types
- Office
- Size
- 1,471,247 sq. meters
- Year Completed
- 1993
- Shared by
- Cyprien Roy
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
From the architects:
Located between Peachtree and West Peachtree at North Avenue, this area headquarters for NationsBank was developed jointly by the Bank and Cousins Properties, Inc. Through a series of bank mergers it then became know as NationsBank Plaza and is now called Bank of America Plaza. The site is narrow, with full frontage along North Avenue at the crest of a hill. The neighborhood south of the site is primarily commercial, while to the north it is primarily high-density residential with surrounding landscaping. The shape of the site and location suggested that the new tower be placed centrally on the North Avenue block front and flanked on either side by landscaped parks. This urban design solution at this key point in the city enables the differing neighborhood characters to blend.
A three-level building stretches from the tower to West Peachtree Street. This building contains a branch bank which opens onto the lobby, a restaurant, retail shop, conference center, and health club. The north wall is of reflective glass, which visually doubles the size of the park in front of it.
Four levels of parking are provided, below grade, over most of the site. There are three vehicular access points into the garage from each bordering street. A rapid-transit stop is located opposite one corner of the site. Pedestrians enter this end of a mirrored-glass gallery and approach the tower. They can also walk through the parks at either side and enter directly into the tower lobby.
The tower is square in plan and sits diagonally across the site, facing the border streets at 45-degree angles and providing undisturbed views in all directions. It employs a "super column" type structural scheme. Two large columns, eight feet square at the base located at each tower face and at each corner of the central core, act as both vertical support and wind bracing.
This system eliminates costly interior columns and provides maximum tenant space utilization and design flexibility. The tower curtain wall starts twelve feet above the lobby floor, offering sixty feet of unobstructed view of the lush landscaping on all exterior sides.
On top of the sleek vertical tower is a large spire, constructed of closely-spaced, horizontal tubes, which encloses the cooling tower, elevator penthouses and other mechanical equipment. At night the spire is illuminated internally, adding a softly-glowing beacon to the Atlanta skyline.