At Atlantic Station’s tallest office building, an extreme makeover designed to comfortably fit and inspire droves of new healthcare industry employees has officially wrapped.
Cooper Carry, Atlanta’s largest design firm, led renovations across seven floors of Atlantic Station’s 271 17th St. building, which is now open as nonprofit healthcare system Piedmont’s System Support Center.
Piedmont’s 165,000-square-foot lease at Atlantic Station ranked as one of the top office deals across metro Atlanta in 2024. The company now occupies floors 23 to 25, and seven to 10, with a large conference, training center, and events space on the ground floor that replaced retail space.
At 25 stories tall, 271 17th St. opened in 2009 and has stood as the district’s tallest office tower since. The top three floors were previously occupied by a law firm, while the lower three were "blank slates," per Cooper Carry officials.
Signage atop Atlantic Station's tallest office building is meant to stand out to hundreds of thousands of daily commuters on the downtown Connector. Courtesy of Cooper Carry
A refreshed grand staircase with downtown views. Courtesy of Cooper Carry
As the building’s anchor tenant, Piedmont has placed its logo atop the building, overlooking the downtown Connector. Other exterior changes include lighting meant to make the building stand out at night to Connector commuters.
The System Support Center was designed to consolidate three Piedmont offices previously dotted across the metro, merging hundreds of employees into a centralized location at the doorstep of Midtown, according to Cooper Carry officials.
Sarah Keithly, Cooper Carry’s lead interior designer, said the firm developed a “bespoke design to address [Piedmont’s] priorities centered on three design themes: cohesion, connectivity, and longevity,” and then wove them throughout each level.
A coffee bar at the System Support Center today. Courtesy of Cooper Carry
Example of a Piedmont huddle room at the corner of the building designed to maximize skyline views. Courtesy of Cooper Carry
Design highlights include a refreshed and restored “grand staircase” left by a previous tenant. Each corner of the new offices features a “non-reservable huddle room” designed to frame sweeping city views. All break rooms also face the exterior, with a variety of seating arrangements, per the design firm.
In the gallery above, find a photo tour across seven floors of the glass-clad Atlantic Station landmark today.
An original watercolor mural by Atlanta artist Christina Kwan on the building’s ground floor, as commissioned by Cooper Carry’s Experiential Graphics team. Courtesy of Cooper Carry
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