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Terminus To Be A New Beginning For Developer

Terrell Johnson Contributing Writer

ATLANTA--(Atlanta Business Chronicle)--October 10, 2005--When the partners at Durham, N.C.-based Duda/Paine Architects LLP pitched their master plan for the design of Terminus, under development by Cousins Properties Inc., they were quizzed at the end of their presentation about what at first seemed like a small detail.

Pointing to the design model's large canopied entrance between the parking garage and the main office building, Cousins CEO Tom Bell asked
architect Taran Duda to explain it further.

"A mixed-use complex of this magnitude," Duda said, "needs a big front door."

The idea resonated with Bell and the entire team at Cousins. For Cousins, this project marks a major step in a new direction -- away from
stand-alone buildings and toward construction designed to foster a 24-hour environment for living, working and playing.

"We wanted the building to be iconic on the skyline, but also wanted it to be incredibly inviting and energetic on the street level," said Cousins Senior Vice President Tad Leithead. "For the feel of the building at the street level, we wanted just as much energy to go into that design. We think [we've] been successful."

The project takes its name from what the city was first called in the early 1800s, when it served as the endpoint for the Western & Atlantic Railroad.

With that symbolism in mind, Cousins and Duda/Paine have designed a building to look as impressive up close as it looks from miles away. The
building's tallest corner will stand 12 feet from the curb, and will serve as "a reference point," said Duda. "The building will have a sense of orientation, almost like a compass."

When viewed from a distance, especially at night, the building will look as if it has been "carved, almost like a sculpture," Duda said.

The top of the building will be a folded plane constructed entirely from translucent glass and lit from within, to give it a glow that will be visible for miles.

The columns at the main entrance will be offset to the side closest to the garage, to create a space (which will be equipped with power and audio systems) that can be used for outdoor events such as concerts and festivals, while retail will ring the 25-story office tower's street-level exterior facing Peachtree and Piedmont.

Sixty-five thousand square feet of space has been set aside for retail in the bottom two floors for the project's first phase, said Leithead, and is expected to include clothing stores, coffee shops, sandwich shops and a health club, in addition to three restaurants in the oval-shaped building adjacent to the office tower.

Sam Massell, the president of the Buckhead Coalition and former Atlanta mayor, said the significance of Terminus, in addition to other high-rise developments being planned for the neighborhood, lies in the fact that it "will help close in the gaps in what is becoming Atlanta's skyline."

"It's a major happening because it's a major national firm that's moving from a suburban area into an urban area," he added. "The Buckhead area is overshadowing Midtown and downtown and Perimeter North and [the] Cumberland [Mall area]. When you look at all this, it's unequaled."

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