Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta)

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Bank of America Plaza

For the Bank of America Plaza located in Dallas, see Bank of America Plaza (Dallas).

The Bank of America Plaza is a skyscraper located in Midtown Atlanta. Standing 1,023 ft. (312 m), it ranks as the 20th tallest building in the world. It is also the tallest building in the United States outside of Chicago and New York City, and the tallest building in any U.S. state capital. It has 55 stories of office space and was completed in 1992, when it was called the NationsBank Building. The Bank of America Plaza was the last American skyscraper built to be one of the ten tallest in the world (in the 14 years since its construction all new entries onto the top ten list have been in Asia).

Built in only 14 months (one of the fastest construction schedules for any 1,000-foot building), The Plaza's imposing presence is heightened by the dark color of its exterior. It soars into the sky with vertical lines that reinforce its height while also creating an abundance of revenue-generating corner offices. Located over 3.7 acres (1.5 ha) on Peachtree Street, the tower faces its border streets at a 45-degree angle to maximize the views to the north and south.

There is a 90 ft (27 m) obelisk-like spire at the top of the building echoing the shape of the building as a whole. Most of the spire is covered in 23 karat (96%) gold leaf. The open-lattice steel pyramid underneath the obelisk glows orange at night due to lighting.

At its most basic, this is a modern interpretation of the Art Deco theme seen in the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. The inhabited part of the building actually ends abruptly with a flat roof. On top of this is built a pyramid of girders, which are gilded and blaze at night.

The building was developed by Cousins Properties and designed by the architectural firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Associates. It is owned and operated by the Bank of America.

It is sometimes locally referred to as the "pencil building", for its resemblance to a pencil. It is also commonly referred to as the "cigarette building," due to its backlit pyramidal crown and its tendency to produce steam on a cold, humid night.

Two low-power TV stations currently share an antenna at the top of the building: WANN-LP (32), and WDTA-LP (53), though the latter has applied to move less than 1km south.

Its design is similar to the Messeturm in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

External Links

• [Emporis Listing]

See also

• Skyscraper
• List of skyscrapers

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