Restoring a Legacy
"Restoring a Legacy"
The Atlanta-based architectural firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent recently renovated the city's Great Depression-era Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building, preserving historic elements while creating a modern new workplace for the GSA. LA&S worked with Skyline to create stunning graphic displays on glass to honor the building’s historic legacy.
Originally designed in 1933 by architect A. Ten Eyck Brown as the main U.S. Post Office for Atlanta, the 78-year-old building is considered one of the best examples of federal architecture from the Great Depression era. Yet, despite its distinguished history, the building had endured years of additions and modifications, leaving its interior a collection of dark, confined, and disparate spaces—not the type of place GSA staffers envisioned for their future regional headquarters.
Fortunately, an inspired partnership between the GSA and LA&S resulted in a bright and beautiful restoration, with homage to the building’s origins and namesake, while targeting LEED Silver certification to position it for the future.
The impressive fusion of old and new features a dramatic restoration of the building's original two-story lobby, where a large-scale portrait of King now memorializes the civil rights leader and the movement he created, featuring Skyline's AST process on a back-lit glass wall panel. Drawing inspiration from the building's original use as a postal facility, the team also selected colors and graphics from 1920s-1930s era postage stamps, displaying the art on custom glass panels.
With improved lighting, materials, furnishings, and graphics, a modern open floor-plan, and preserved original design features, the new workplace for the GSA is truly an inspired blend of old and new.
To see photos, and to read the full story (pgs 60-67), click here.
Photo: Jonathan Hillyer