Gateway Center II Office Building

The program for Gateway Center II Office Building was simply to get as much office space and associated parking on a small one acre site with FAA height restrictions due to the projects proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In addition, a major storm water easement limited the available building area of the already tiny site. After careful site and program analysis, the design team created a concept which maximized the buildable area by placing two levels of 51,000 square feet of Class-A office space directly above two levels of covered, secure parking for 162 spaces. With the building sitting atop the parking, the main entrance and lobby to the building becomes the primary feature of the project. The exterior palette of materials of the building are subtle shades of dark grey pewter and black. However, the entrance element is a striking contrast of bright white and silver to clearly emphasize its presence as a welcoming beacon of light. A canopy element equipped with a thin continuous light source traces along the front elevation and becomes a vertical ‘strake’ reminiscent of the aerodynamic airplane designs flying overhead.

Design Challenge

The design had to be a low-rise building due to FAA height restrictions, but through careful site planning, a four-level building with the 162 required parking spaces was achieved on the tiny plot of land just over 1 acre. Early design solutions initially looked at placing just the building on the site, and expanding an adjacent parking structure another level or two to accommodate the additional required parking. However, the design team realized during initial site evaluation studies, that fill dirt had been placed on this site from prior surrounding construction projects. The fill dirt was unsuitable for building upon and needed to be removed. This opened the door to the perfect design solution: Remove 12 feet of fill dirt, and put the parking below the building. The final design solution provides two-levels of secure, covered parking directly under two-levels of class-A office space, and saved the project hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction cost.

Physical Context

The Gateway Center II Office Building project is strategically located within a very short walking distance to the Atlanta Skytrain rail system which links the entire Gateway Center development to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The project is also surrounded by the Georgia International Convention Center, four full-service hotels, an existing office building, the newly completed BMW Training Center and the new 5,000 seat Gateway Arena. Gateway Center is in an ideal position for the future grow planned for Airport City in College Park.