CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PARK

  • LOCATION Atlanta, Georgia
  • CLIENT Centennial Olympic Park
  • CHALLENGE Unique structures and lighting on a tight schedule.

Our architectural sculpture work at Centennial Olympic Park takes many forms. Among them are eight sixty-foot-tall light towers, the Quilt of Nations Canopy, information kiosks and wayfinding monuments.

We installed the light towers on sculpted concrete pedestals. Because each pedestal is a different height the tower tops are at the same elevation, regardless of the slope of the ground. The body of each tower consists of rolled perforated aluminum capped with a ‘floating ring’ crown. To perfectly space the circular openings in the tapering tower body we drilled these thousands of holes by hand. Internal lighting shines through these openings and spills out over the crowns above. The towers provide a compelling accent to the park’s night time light-scape.

Our latest addition is “The Spectacular,” an architectural sculpture (and selfie-magnet) consisting of an 11-foot-tall by 23-1/2-foot-wide rendering of the Olympic Ring logo. The aluminum sculpture weighs nearly 5000 lbs. and is the main gateway element at the East entrance to the park.

Sculptural Elements Icon

In 2008 a tornado tore through downtown Atlanta and destroyed two of the eight towers. Consequently, we were on the phone with the Georgia World Congress Center Authority the next morning.  Although they manage the park, we were mapping out solutions before they even realized the extent of the damage. Due to our aggressive schedule, the replacement towers were one of the first repairs completed by anyone in the aftermath of the storm.

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Please thank your team for their conscientious work. With the challenges of the Centennial Olympic Park job site, number of events, sensitivity of the engraved bricks of the Centennial Plaza and just the sheer number of visitors, the crews did a fantastic job keeping the area safe and meticulously clean. The results of the project are excellent.”

— Mark Banta, General Manager
Centennial Olympic Park