Southern Bell Telephone Company Building vs GLC Grand Building

Comparing the Southern Bell Telephone Company Building and the GLC Grand Building is interesting because they both rise in Atlanta, GA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Marye, Alger and Vinour and Rabun Hogan Ota Rasche Architects, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished over two decades apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Atlanta across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The GLC Grand Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 610ft (186m) with 53 floors above ground, while the Southern Bell Telephone Company Building reaches 381ft (116m) with 14 floors above ground.

Of course, each project may have faced different briefs or regulatory constraints, which we don't really know about and could also explain the outcome.

Both the Southern Bell Telephone Company Building and the GLC Grand Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

The GLC Grand Building was designed at a moment when the Art Deco style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Southern Bell Telephone Company Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

The Southern Bell Telephone Company Building is primarily commercial, while the GLC Grand Building is primarily hotel.

The GLC Grand Building incorporates a 5-star hotel with 244 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.