The Ten Peachtree Place is a Postmodernist skyscraper designed by Michael Graves, and built between 1988 and 1989 in Atlanta, GA.
Ten Peachtree Place is not the only name you might know this building by though. Between 1989 and 2002 it was also known as Coca-Cola Computer Center.
Its precise street address is 10 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA. You can also find it on the map here.
The building underwent a major restoration in 2002.
Michael Graves was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.
That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but at the very least we know that there was one other part involved, that was as the company in charge of the elevators system.
The Ten Peachtree Place can be categorized as a Postmodernist building.
Postmodernism in architecture emerged in the United States during the late 1960s as a reaction against the starkness of the International Style, which part of the new generation of architects argued was too impersonal, sterile, and disconnected from historical and cultural contexts.
Postmodernism challenged the International Style's austerity by reintroducing historical elements and ornamentation, although this time not as literally as in the Neo-Classic buildings. Instead, they reinterpreted them within the context of modern materials and construction techniques.
Postmodern buildings often feature bold, contrasting colors, unconventional forms, and a playful blend of various architectural elements from different eras and cultures.
In the United States, Postmodernism was not just an aesthetic choice but also a philosophical stance. It represented a democratization of design, where architects sought to create buildings that were accessible and meaningful to a broader range of people, not just designers and intellectuals.
The Ten Peachtree Place was completed in 1989. At that time Postmodernism was the prevailing style. Fresh, bold and daring, architects were exploring the freedom of designing without having to follow the strict, sometimes arbitrary rules of a specific architectural movement (which ironically became a movement itself). The Ten Peachtree Place was therefore every much in line with what the architecture community, and the people liked and wanted at the time.
The Ten Peachtree Place reaches an architectural height of 256ft (78m). It has a total of 20 floors, served by 6 elevators.
In regards to parking space, the building has a total of 485 spots available, which roughly equals 24 spots per floor (above ground).
Ever since opening its doors to the public in 1989, the Ten Peachtree Place has mainly been used as Commercial space.
The Ten Peachtree Place uses a frame structure made of columns and beams.
A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.
From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features a combination of polished red granite and dark black windows, creating a distinctive polychromatic striping effect.
The design incorporates classical elements in a postmodern context, with tall piers supporting a dramatic loggia at the base, an arch above the main entrance breaking the horizontal banding, and a double-height colonnade crowning the top of the building. This composition emphasizes the tripartite structure of the building, with a clearly defined base, middle (shaft), and top (capital), reminiscent of classical column designs.
