Concord Center
One Concord Center is an 11-story, 150,000 square-foot office building on the northeast corner of Richard Arrington, Jr. Boulevard North and 3rd Avenue North. Completed in 2002, the tower was designed by Williams-Blackstock Architects and built by Bill Harbert International. The law firm of Lange, Simpson, Robinson & Somerville serves as the primary tenant of the tower.
History
The project was initially announced on December 11, 1999 with Brookmont Realty serving as its developer. The tower is constructed atop the site of the Jefferson County Courthouse (1889) that had served as a parking lot since 1930. During excavation of the site, foundations from the courthouse were unearthed and removed prior to the construction of the foundation.
On Thursday, August 9, 2001, the concrete structure celebrated its topping-out ceremony. The frame of the tower contains 820 tons of steel and 9,581 cubic yards of concrete. On February 7, 2002, its twin pyramids were illuminated for the first time. The building was officially opened in March 2002.
Costing just over $26 million to complete, at the time of its construction it was the largest new tower to be constructed in downtown Birmingham since the completion of the Amsouth-Harbert Plaza in 1989.
Design
The glass and steel tower features a pair of twin pyramids rising above the roof line. These 37-foot tall pyramids pay homage to similar structures that once adorned the 1889 courthouse. The lobby is set back 15 feet from Richard Arrington Boulevard in creating a pedestrian friendly plaza space.
Some of the more notable materials used in the construction of its facade include: gray granite from Portugal, black granite from Angola and marble from the Grecian island of Thasos.
The main sculpture featured in the main lobby was created by William Christenberry and is entitled Dream Building (For Birmingham).
References
- Tomberlin, Michael (December 12, 1999) "11-story tower to be built downtown." Birmingham News.
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 20, 2000) "Birth of a building: In the beginning." Birmingham News.
- Gerome, John (September 10, 2000) "Back to the future." Birmingham News.
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 10, 2001) "Birth of a building: Concord Center tops-out." Birmingham News.
External links
- One Concord Center on Emporis.com