Documents Shed More Light on Midtown's Squatty 'Icon'

So the future NCR Corporation headquarters in Midtown might not be the sky-piercing icon the developer had hinted at, but draft renderings suggest the mixed-use project will make a statement while earnestly trying to boost street life. Concepts provided to the Midtown Development Review Committee show that NCR's so-called "trophy" headquarters will lord over Atlanta's busiest freeway, while a plaza on Spring Street will be anything but rudimentary. The main tower's body, composed of vision glass with a frit pattern a la Buckhead's Terminus, will be positioned on the western edge of the site, so that it peers down on The Connector and either 1.) provides a new visual dimension to the Midtown skyline for travelers and commuters or 2.) annoyingly blocks views of Bank of America Plaza, which is comparatively majestic. A majority of the Spring Street frontage will be consumed by a lobby, although "lease space" will rim the ground floor elsewhere, according to the plans. Finally, the plaza that abuts the Spring Street sidewalk will include seating areas, ipe wood decking, vertical charging stations and modern-day techie bait like a "decorative Ping-Pong table," a bocce court and life-size chess board.

· Midtown 'Icon' Unveiled; Standard for 'Icons' Lowered [Curbed Atlanta]
· First look: NCR's planned Midtown HQ [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]