The building was developed by
Cousins Properties and designed by the
architectural firm
Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC. Designed in the Postmodern style reminiscent of Art Deco, it was built in only 14 months, one of the fastest construction schedules for any building. The Plaza's imposing presence is heightened by the dark color of its exterior. It soars into the sky with vertical lines that reinforce its height while also creating an abundance of revenue-generating
corner offices. It is located on over on
Peachtree Street. There is a
obelisk-like
spire at the top of the building echoing the shape of the building as a whole. Most of the spire is covered in 23
karat (96 percent)
gold leaf. The open-lattice steel pyramid underneath the obelisk glows yellow-orange at night due to lighting. At its most basic, this is a modern interpretation of the
Art Deco theme seen in the
Empire State Building and the
Chrysler Building. The inhabited part of the building actually ends abruptly with a flat roof. On top of this is built a
pyramid of
girders, which are gilded and blaze at night, with the same type of yellow-orange
high-pressure sodium (HPS)
lighting used in older-style
street lights. Its design has been characterized as similar to the
Messeturm in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The skyscraper, built at a 45-degree angle to the city's street grid, is set back off its eastern and western street boundaries, Peachtree Street and West Peachtree Street, by over 50 yards (45 m). This setback is filled, variously, by driveways, parking garage entrances, potted plants, granite staircases, and sloping lawns. The building directly abuts the sidewalk on
North Avenue, its northern boundary, with access to this street through a parking garage entrance and stairs leading from the building's main lobby. The skyscraper is across the street from the
North Avenue station of the
MARTA rail system. Developers have rumored that the land under the surrounding driveways and lawns may be redeveloped into low- and mid-rise
mixed-use buildings with street-fronting uses as the area urbanizes and the value of land in Midtown Atlanta increases. In 2014, new sidewalks, pavers, ADA ramps, pedestrian light-poles, improved tree wells, new bike racks and landscaping were planned. These neighborhood improvements were completed by 2016 at a cost of $1.04 million. Upon its completion Bank of America Plaza was the tallest building in the United States outside New York City and Chicago, and the 8th-tallest building in the U.S. overall. == Renovations and sustainable building initiative ==