Title: Colony Square
Location of Proejct: Atlanta, GA
Project Completion Date: 05/18/2021
Firm Name: Lord Aeck Sargent

Short Description: Colony Square offered 1970s Atlanta a vision for co-located residential, commercial, and recreational uses never seen in the Southeast. As Atlanta grew and evolved, the previously avant-garde development needed revitalization. Major renovation and new construction transformed Colony Square while expanding open space and re-establishing a great urban sense of place. New pathways flow through its six acres, dissolving former barriers and are punctuated by outdoor congregating areas including The Plaza, a vibrant central space and The Grove, a street-side park, that activates a link to 14th Street. New structures include two office buildings, a theater, and a food hall.

Architect's Statement: In 1972, Colony Square offered an unconventional vision for co-located residential, commercial, and recreational uses never before seen in the Southeast. The original project was visionary both architecturally and culturally, but immediate commercial success eluded the team. As Atlanta evolved–socially, politically, and economically–the previously avant-garde development became overdue for revitalization.

Colony Square’s new pathways are punctuated by several new outdoor areas, including The Plaza. Located at the heart of the site, the 10,000-square-foot green space provides a vibrant open-air hub—the inverse of its enclosed retail predecessor. Colony Square’s former shopping mall impeded movement through the site, offered low retail visibility, and contributed to a separation of uses and users; its pioneering green roofs were not accessible by the public. Demolition of the underperforming concourse unlocked the potential for engaging new public space as well as a new 58,000 sf office building (Building 300) and improved, pedestrian-focused retail spaces.

Buildings 300 and 500 are two new 6-story office buildings, constructed above the existing 3-level parking structure. They include ground-level retail spaces to complement the dynamic central plaza and engage the surrounding streets.

Building 300 is a multi-tenant building with an articulated metal panel façade and punched openings to modulate view and light in the office spaces. The main lobby includes the Concierge for the overall development, and it incorporates the existing escalator bank to the parking levels.

At the northern corner of the site, a new 147,000-square-foot office building (Building 500) features a primarily glass exterior, offering an intentionally lighter effect than that of Colony Square’s historic concrete. Defying initial readings of its northwestern facade, Building 500 deploys the same paneled glazing on all sides. While the new building’s materiality may be in contrast to the original office towers, the geometry of both new office buildings (Building 500 and Building 300) is inspired by the strong vertical lines and gridded window modules of the historic structures. Building 500 may only stand six stories tall, in contrast to its 22-story neighbor, but it conveys the same tangible sense of verticality.

In addition to increasing tenant footprints, the reimagination of Colony Square doubled the site’s usable public space, without any adjustment to property lines. This seeming paradox is perhaps best illustrated by the Grove, a 10,000-square-foot park that activates a previously overlooked pedestrian link between Colony Square and 14th Street. The Grove softens a previously hard edge, which increases retail access on Colony Square’s southern side, improves site permeability, and enhances the appeal of an existing public space.

The renewal of Colony Square with over 415,000 gsf of renovated and new office, retail and residential space represents an extraordinary opportunity to create a charismatic and welcoming public place at the heart of a growing neighborhood. The design concept supports the ongoing transformation of Midtown into a vibrant commercial, retail, residential and cultural district by opening up the hard-to-find indoor retail mall to the sky and creating new, inviting pathways into the site from the busy Peachtree Street pedestrian corridor. Refreshed office building lobbies surrounded by reconfigured active retail space on the ground level compliment major public attractions including a theatre and a bustling food hall providing visitors and tenants much needed congregation space, food and amenities. Today, bold new apertures, a smoother grade throughout, and democratized access to nature help to foster the comingling of pedestrians, shoppers, workers, and residents, honoring the original project’s forward-thinking legacy.
Through a blend of urban design innovations and architectural interventions, the project has increased occupant density while simultaneously expanding open space and—most importantly—re-establishing a great urban sense of place.