Atlanta Constitution Building
The 1947 headquarters and printing plant of The Atlanta Constitution rises six stories above Alabama Street SW, its smooth limestone cladding and corner windows a statement of mid-century Art Moderne restraint now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At a glance
A six-story Art Moderne landmark anchoring downtown Atlanta’s Alabama Street, the Atlanta Constitution Building served as the headquarters and printing plant of one of Georgia’s most storied newspapers from 1947 until 1972. Standing vacant for more than five decades, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 2026, and has since been earmarked for conversion to residential use as Folio House apartments.
Key facts
- Built: 1947
- Style: Art Moderne
- Architect: Robert and Company (Atlanta)
- Original use: Newspaper headquarters and printing plant
- NRHP listed: January 21, 2026 (#100012592)
- Address: 143 Alabama Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303
- GPS: 33.75418, −84.39272
History
The Atlanta Constitution traced its origins to 1868, and by the mid-twentieth century it ranked among the South’s most influential dailies. In 1947 the paper commissioned Robert and Company, the prominent Atlanta architectural firm, to design a purpose-built headquarters along Alabama Street SW, combining editorial offices with an industrial printing plant on a single downtown site.
The Constitution relocated its operations in 1972, leaving the building vacant. It stood largely unchanged for more than five decades, a quiet six-story time capsule in the heart of downtown Atlanta’s Five Points district. In January 2026 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its architectural and historical significance. Plans to convert the structure into Folio House apartments followed shortly after the listing.
What you see
The facade expresses Art Moderne’s machine-age confidence with restrained horizontal banding, smooth limestone cladding, and corner windows that wrap the upper stories in continuous glass. The composition deliberately avoids the ornamental towers and zigzag profiles of earlier Art Deco, opting instead for streamlined mass that communicated industrial efficiency — the vocabulary appropriate for a building half given over to printing presses.
Robert and Company brought the same rationalist eye to this building that characterized their larger civic commissions. The proportions are measured, the surface detail minimal, the entrance bay just prominent enough to identify the institution without theatrical excess. The effect is one of confident austerity, the design language of a newspaper that considered itself a serious participant in the civic life of Georgia.
Practical information
- The building is not open to the public and is undergoing conversion to residential use.
- The exterior is freely viewable from Alabama Street SW and from the adjacent Five Points plaza.
- Best visited as part of a walking tour of downtown Atlanta’s historic core.
- Five Points MARTA station is one block away; underground Atlanta is adjacent.
Getting there
The Atlanta Constitution Building stands at 143 Alabama Street SW, one block south of Peachtree Street in the Five Points district of downtown Atlanta. MARTA Five Points station (East/West and North/South lines) is a two-minute walk, making it one of the most accessible historic sites in the city. By car, the nearest parking garages are on Broad Street and on Mitchell Street.
Nearby
- Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola — five blocks north at Centennial Olympic Park
- National Center for Civil and Human Rights — adjacent to Centennial Park
- Fox Theatre (1929) — Moorish Revival landmark, eight blocks north on Peachtree Street
- Sweet Auburn district — birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr., ten minutes east on foot
Sources
- Wikipedia: “Atlanta Constitution Building”
- National Register of Historic Places listing #100012592 (January 21, 2026)
- Robert and Company Architects, Atlanta — firm history
- Wikimedia Commons: Atlanta_Constitution_Building,_Atlanta,_GA_(47421881412).jpg, CC0
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