Technology Square

A view of Technology Square

Technology Square, commonly called Tech Square, is a multi-block neighborhood located in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Tech Square is bounded by 8th Street on the north, 3rd Street on the south, West Peachtree Street to the east, and Williams Street to the west. Tech Square includes several academic buildings affiliated with Georgia Tech and provides access to the campus via the Fifth Street Pedestrian Plaza Bridge, reconstructed in 2007.^[1][2] It also contains restaurants, retail shops, condominiums, office buildings, and a hotel. NCR plans to build its 20-story headquarters in 2016.

History

Tech Square at night

Announced in 2000^[3] and opened in 2003,^[4] the district designed by tvsdesign ^[5] was built over previously vacant surface parking lots and has contributed to an ongoing revitalization of the Midtown neighborhood. In October 2013, Georgia Tech and local businesses celebrated Tech Square's 10th anniversary.^[6]

In 2007, the Georgia Tech Foundation purchased the Crum & Forster Building, located in Tech Square, and sought permits to demolish the building as part of a plan to expand Technology Square.^[7] The building was designed in the 1920s by the architectural firm of Ivey and Crook, whose founders Ernest Ivey and Lewis Crook helped establish the Architecture program at Georgia Tech in 1908.^[7] Preservationists fought the demolition and in August 2009, the Atlanta City Council and Mayor Shirley Franklin granted the building protective status as a historic landmark.^[8] The Georgia Tech Foundation appealed this decision. It instead purchased an adjoining property where a SunTrust Banks branch was previously located. In September 2013, the Georgia Tech Foundation demolished two-thirds of the Crum & Forster Building, leaving only part of its facade, to clear space for a High Performance Computing Center mid-rise.^[9]

Georgia Tech facilities

The College of Business

It is home to the Scheller College of Business,^[10][11] Barnes & Noble @ Georgia Tech,^[12] (the official school bookstore), the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center,^[13] as well as offices for a number of faculty and graduate students.

The North side of the 5th Street Bridge, connecting the rest of Georgia Tech's campus to the Square.

On November 24, 2006 the Scheller College of Business dedicated the state of the art, 2,000-square-foot (190 m²) Ferris-Goldsmith Trading Floor. The trading floor opened in 2007 and includes fifty-four dual-display computers as well as electronic stock information on the walls, training all levels of management students to use financial analysis and electronic trading tools. Management faculty use the facility to research improved human performance in trading environments as well as the creation of new financial service models.^[14] The trading floor houses Tech's new Quantitative and Computational Finance program.

Research laboratories

The GVU Center, the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), VentureLab, Flashpoint, and the Georgia Electronics Design Center research group (GEDC), as well as the DiMoS lab (conducts research in the areas of parallel and distributed algorithms for Geographic Information System (GIS), and distributed and mobile computing) are all housed around Tech Square. The buildings in Technology Square also host a variety of small businesses as well as business ventures spawned by Georgia Tech research.

Commercial shops

Tech Square also contains several restaurants, including Moe's Southwest Grill, Tin Drum, Yogli Mogli, Gyro King, Chuck's Famous, Barrel House, Subway, Starbucks, Ray's Pizza, and Waffle House as well as other non-food retail establishments, such as T-Mobile.^[15][16]

See also

• Georgia Tech main campus

References

1. Aitken, Jim; Clements, Mike; Schmitz, Tim (Winter 2008). "Fifth Street Pedestrian Plaza Bridge" (PDF). ASPIRE. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
2. Stephenson, James (2007-01-19). "Renovated Fifth Street Bridge opens". The Technique. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
3. Hinkel, Jennifer (2000-06-16). "Clough holds press conference to reveal master plan details". The Technique. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
4. "Technology Square Grand Opening". Archived from the original on 2007-02-20. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
5. "Georgia Institute of Technology - Technology Square". DPR Construction. Retrieved 2015-01-18.
6. Sekar, Anu (October 4, 2013). "Tech Square celebrates 10th anniversary". The Technique. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
7. Auchmutey, Jim (July 10, 2008). "Feud at Georgia Tech over landmark building". Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, GA). Retrieved July 30, 2011.
8. Kaplan, TJ (February 25, 2011). "Fate of Crum & Forster to be determined". The Technique (Atlanta, GA). Retrieved July 30, 2011.
9. Wheatley, Thomas (September 3, 2013). "The historic Crum & Forster building's rear portion is gone". Creative Loafing. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
10. Subramanian, Arjun (2003-06-13). "Management prepares for Tech Square move". The Technique. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
11. "Georgia Tech Map: College of Management and Barnes & Noble Bookstore". Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
12. "Barnes and Noble @ Georgia Tech". Retrieved 2007-03-25.
13. "Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center". Retrieved 2007-03-25.
14. "College's New High-tech Trading Floor to Prepare Students for Financial Careers". Georgia Tech College of Management. Archived from the original on 2007-03-22. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
15. "Georgia Tech Press Release of Technology Square Retail Partners" (Press release). Georgia Institute of Technology. 2003-06-24. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
16. "Georgia Tech Hotel Listing of Tech Square Shops" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-03-25.

External links

• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Technology Square Research Building

Coordinates: 33°46′37″N 84°23′20″W / 33.776826°N 84.388791°W