SunTrust Plaza
Encyclopedia
- SunTrust Building redirects here; for the building in Miami, see SunTrust International CenterSunTrust International CenterThe SunTrust International Center is a building in Downtown Miami, Florida, United States. It is located in the heart of the Central Business District, on Southeast 1st Street near 3rd Avenue. It is one block west of Biscayne Boulevard. The tower rises from a six-story parking pedestal, and...
SunTrust Plaza is a 265 m (869.4 ft) 60-story
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the first and largest of the three financial districts in the city of Atlanta. Downtown Atlanta is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters, city, county, state and federal government facilities, sporting facilities, and is the central tourist attraction of the city...
. Built as part of the Peachtree Center
Peachtree Center
Peachtree Center is a multi-block neighborhood located in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the buildings that make up the district were designed by Atlanta architect John C. Portman, Jr.. Many of the buildings are connected by a network of enclosed pedestrian sky bridges...
complex, construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
was finished in 1992, and has been the second-tallest building
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
in Atlanta since then. When completed, it was the 28th tallest building in the world, and 21st tallest building in the United States. It is the headquarters for Atlanta's World Trade Center. Since Atlanta's tallest, the Bank of America Plaza
Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta)
Bank of America Plaza is a skyscraper located in the SoNo district of Atlanta, Georgia. At the tower is the 53rd-tallest building in the world. When it first opened, it was the 9th tallest building in the world, and 6th tallest building in the United States...
, is located in nearby Midtown
Midtown Atlanta
Midtown is the second largest financial district in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown and SoNo to the south and the affluent residential and commercial district of Buckhead to the north...
, SunTrust Plaza is the tallest in the downtown area.
History
Architect and developer John C. Portman, Jr. originally conceived this building in the 1980s commercial real-estate frenzy as a speculative office building. Its basic design elements, a postmodern square tower with an elaborate base and crown, represented a departure for Portman from his earlier International-styleInternational style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
work, and are said to have been inspired by Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
's wildly successful design for midtown Atlanta
Midtown Atlanta
Midtown is the second largest financial district in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown and SoNo to the south and the affluent residential and commercial district of Buckhead to the north...
's One Atlantic Center
One Atlantic Center
One Atlantic Center, also known as IBM Tower, is a skyscraper located in Midtown Atlanta. It is the third-tallest in Atlanta, reaching a height of with 50 stories of office space. It was completed in 1987 and remained the tallest building in Atlanta until 1992, when it was surpassed by the Bank...
.
Ground broke
Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and...
in 1989 with great fanfare, but by completion in 1992, the bottom had fallen out of Atlanta's real estate market and the building sat largely empty, nearly forcing Portman into bankruptcy and causing him to lose control of most of his real estate holdings. His architectural firm, John Portman & Associates, located their headquarters in the building.
In the mid-1990s, Portman sold half his interest in the building to SunTrust Bank, which then moved its headquarters to the building, prompting a name change from One Peachtree Center to its current name.
The two-level lobby
Lobby (room)
A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....
is filled with many works of art, sculpture and furniture designed by John Portman.
Recent events
The building was one of several struck by the mid-March 2008 Atlanta tornado, however it did not sustain damage as severe as most of the other buildings just south of it. Several offices had to be temporarily relocated within the building due to broken windows.LPTV station WDTA-LD relocated to the top of the building, from the even-taller Bank of America Plaza
Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta)
Bank of America Plaza is a skyscraper located in the SoNo district of Atlanta, Georgia. At the tower is the 53rd-tallest building in the world. When it first opened, it was the 9th tallest building in the world, and 6th tallest building in the United States...
. Despite long being Atlanta's second-tallest skyscraper, this is its first broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
.
The building is, and has been since its construction, the home of John Portman & Assoc. Architects.