Renovation Projects To Transform
Campus Near Woodruff Park
Renovation Projects To Transform
Campus Near Woodruff Park
written by Leah Seupersad | photography by Meg Buscema | published on March 3, 2017
Georgia State has renovated the front entrance of the 58 Edgewood Ave. building and opened a new lobby study space on the ground floor.
“Our design intent was to establish a formal entrance to the building, spruce up the façade with Georgia State signage and activate the lobby along the Edgewood Avenue with social space,” said Ramesh Vakamudi, associate vice president of facilities management. “We also wanted to replace the old single pane rusted metal windows with energy efficient, aesthetically pleasing windows. I think we are successful in achieving it.”
The new lobby, which is open to the Georgia State community, has seating for 32 people and two Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible restrooms. The building also houses Georgia State’s CollabTech Business Incubator and LaunchGSU, which opened this semester as an event venue for startup-centric events and a work space for students.
“The project took 15 months to complete and the lobby opened to the Georgia State community at the beginning of February,” said project manager Keith Martin. “The contractor is still working through a few small items, but I expect all construction on the project should be completed by mid-March.”
The façade and lobby renovation at 58 Edgewood Ave., which is sometimes referred to as the 25 Park Place annex or the CollabTech building, is the first of several projects at Georgia State being funded by a $22.8 million Robert W. Woodruff Foundation grant to help improve facilities and streetscapes in the area adjacent to Woodruff Park.
The grant will also fund renovation projects at 25 Park Place, a complex which consists of a 26-floor tower, a low-rise, three-floor building, a 1,400-car parking deck and a six-floor annex building.
Pavilion Renovation for the
Creative Media Industries Institute
The three-floor low-rise building, commonly referred to as the Pavilion, is being renovated to house the Georgia State Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII). This project, which is scheduled for completion by May 2017, consists of three core facilities – a Media Production Hub, Media Industries Incubation Center and Digital Media Research Center. The first floor includes an entrance lobby with two-story video display screen, production studio, student meeting rooms and a virtual reality lab. The second floor has meeting rooms, a training room, collaborative space and post-production rooms. The third floor consists of a data visualization lab, applications development lab and multipurpose room that opens into a roof terrace. Technology enhancements are scheduled for completion by September 2017.
Plaza Improvements
Georgia State is in the programming and planning phase of renovation work for the 25 Park Place Plaza. The triangular plaza is enclosed by the tower and low-rise building on two sides and Park Place Street on the third side. The intent of this project is to create an attractive, vibrant and dynamic urban plaza to encourage pedestrian activity and social gatherings. The plaza, which is adjacent to Woodruff Park and served by the Atlanta Streetcar System, will complement the Creative Media Industries Institute and its programs, by serving as an exterior venue for events and for public interaction with CMII-based activities. In addition to the plaza design, concepts are being proposed for the adjoining street areas, which will require discussions with and the approval of the City of Atlanta. These concepts include new pavement material, planters with seating, Georgia State signs, landscaping, street furniture and lighting. Plaza enhancements are scheduled for completion by December 2017.