The Hurt Building is an 18-story building located at 50 Hurt Plaza in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

with a unique triangular shape. One of the nation's earliest skyscrapers, the Hurt Building was built between 1913 and 1926, and was the initial home for the

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, (informally referred to as the Atlanta Fed and the Bank), is the sixth district of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States and is headquartered in midtown Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta Fed covers ...

. It was renovated in 1985. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1977.

History

Concept

The

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous building was conceived and developed by Joel Hurt, a prominent Atlanta businessman and prolific developer. Hurt had already built the city's first skyscraper, the original Equitable Building, nearly two decades before. He was part owner of

Atlanta and Edgewood Street Railroad The Atlanta & Edgewood Street Railroad Company of Atlanta, Georgia was organized in 1886 by Joel Hurt, C. W. Hubner, H. E. W. Palmer, W. P. Inman, Peter Lynch, R. C. Mitchell, Asa Griggs Candler, J. P. McDonald, J. G. Reynolds, A. F. Morela ...

, the city's first electric streetcar, which connected the city center to the

Inman Park Inman Park is an intown neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, and its first planned suburb. It was named for Samuel M. Inman. History Today's neighborhood of Inman Park includes areas that were originally designated * Inman Park p ...

residential area he developed. He also co-founded the Trust Company of Georgia (an early predecessor of what is now

Suntrust SunTrust Banks, Inc. was an American bank holding company with SunTrust Bank as its largest subsidiary and assets of US$199 billion as of March 31, 2018. The bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where it was h ...

) and was its president for nine years starting in 1895. Moreover, Hurt married into the Woodruff family, which would eventually control both the Trust Company of Georgia and

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

. Hurt made preliminary drawings for several years before choosing well-known

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

architect

J.E.R. Carpenter James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter Jr. (January 7, 1867 – June 11, 1932) was the leading architect of luxury residential high-rise buildings in New York City in the early 1900s. Biography He studied at the University of Tennessee and at the Mas ...

to complete the design. Though Carpenter was based in New York by then, he was born and raised outside of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. It was the 17th largest office building in the world at the time of its construction, it is considered a good example of the skyscraper developed by the famed

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

and the Chicago School style.

Construction and design

The Hurt Building was constructed during a turbulent economic period between 1913 and 1926 that was marred by four recessions as well as

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, which delayed the construction of the wings and

light court In architecture, a lightwell,light well, light-well sky-well,skywell, sky well or air shaft is an unroofed or roofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be a dark or ...

of the building until 1924. Nonetheless, the bulk of the building was completed in 1913, with a courtyard and the entry rotunda pushing the final completion to 1926. With restrained ornamentation, it occupies a middle ground between Beaux Arts classicism and the emerging

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

aesthetic. The 17-floor building is characterized by a unique triangular shape, most closely associated with the

Flatiron Building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, steel-framed landmarked building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New ...

in New York City, which was necessitated by its triangular site. The building is constructed of steel frame and reinforced concrete. The building envelope is uninterrupted marble and glazed brick piers with ornamental terra cotta spandrels terminating in a heavy decorative cornice exemplifying the craftsmanship of the early 1900s. It is composed of straight fronts, a flat roof, level skyline, subordination of ornament, a regular pattern of fenestration, and cornices of moderate projection. The lower four floors were designed to fill the building's footprint with the exception of the apex of the building, which faces Five Points, and was cut back 30 feet to allow a greater window area and a more majestic view of the building. The upper 13 floors above lower base is arranged in a V-shape, with the two wings extend from the western apex of the property along both Exchange Place and Edgewood Avenue leaving an open light court between the wings opening toward Ivy Street. Another key feature is three-story domed rotunda. The original 1913 chandelier underscores the artistically vibrant ceiling, decorated with brilliant gold leaf panels and dramatic sunbursts, reflected in the circular grand marble staircase leading to the Venetian Room, an event space. The first tenant occupied the Hurt Building in October 1913. Among the first tenants was the newly created

, which paid rent of $6,500 for the first year, $8,000 for the second, and $9,000 for the third. until its own building was completed in 1918 at 104 Marietta Street. Six decades later, beginning in 1983, the Hurt Building was completely renovated, inside and out, reopening in 1985. The Hurt Building at 96 years old became the first commercial office building in the state of Georgia (and 6th oldest in the nation) to earn

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

- EBOM Gold Certification as well as the first in Georgia to be awarded the BOMA 360 designation, both in 2009.

In popular culture

The NBC legal drama Matlock, starring

Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characte ...

, used exterior shots of the Hurt Building to represent the office of the fictional Ben Matlock. In the 2016 crime thriller Triple 9, the Hurt Building was the site of the bank robbery committed at the start of the film. Image:Hurt-building-rear.jpg, Rear section of the building Image:Hurt-building-atlanta-side.jpg, Side of the building Image:Hurt Building 4.jpg, In relation to buildings around it Image:Hurt Building 2.jpg, Back of building

References

External links

The Hurt Building
The official website for the Hurt Building

National Park Service Atlanta
Hurt Building
Atlanta Urban Design Commission {{Atlanta landmarks Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Office buildings completed in 1913 Skyscraper office buildings in Atlanta City of Atlanta-designated historic sites 1913 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta Chicago school architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)