Midtown 'Icon' Unveiled; Standard for 'Icons' Lowered

Last week, the head of Cousins Properties whipped Atlanta development watchers into a speculation frenzy by promising that NCR Corporation's new "trophy" headquarters will be "an iconic addition to the Midtown skyline." Well, renderings for the so-called Spring Street Building have emerged, and the only thing they're missing is a womp-womp sound on loop. It's tough to dismiss the "iconic" claims as entirely baseless developerspeak, because the 22-story headquarters will bring eye-catching architectural variety to Midtown, with its sleek simplicity and sloping panes of glass that give the illusion of movement to passersby. But it's hard to call something iconic that'll hardly be visible from the other side of the neighborhood, with so many truly memorable towers in the way. (At least the five-story parking deck will be artfully masked, for the most part). The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that this $200 million first phase — the "heart of the project" — could launch in December. The designer is Duda Paine Architects, the firm behind the collection of Terminus buildings in Buckhead. The shortest of those towers is three stories taller than their future Midtown counterpart.

· NCR Corp.'s 22-story Midtown headquarters unveiled [ABC]
· NCR Tower will be 'Iconic Addition to the Midtown Skyline' [Curbed]