Later this month, Georgia Tech and Portman will break ground on the second phase of Technology Square in Midtown Atlanta, easily one of the most anticipated real estate projects in the city in years.
The High Performance Computing Center, also known as Phase II of Georgia Tech’s popular Technology Square development. Source: Portman and Georgia Tech
Known as the High Performance Computing Center, the complex at Spring and Fourth streets will have some of the most sophisticated computing capacities in the nation. It's also slated to be home to corporate innovation centers, where where tech companies will collaborate with the faculty, staff and students of the revered research institution.
But the whiz-bang technology in the tower doesn’t end there. It’ll also have some pretty unique elevators.
On Friday, ThyssenKrupp, the German lift company, said the Midtown tower will be the first building in the Americas with its TWIN elevator system, featuring two cars on most elevator shafts.
Here's some information on how the system works, and check out the animation below (source: ThyssenKrupp).
The computer controlled system increases elevator capacity and makes for fewer stops, the company said. (The computers also make sure the cars don’t run into each other in the shaft.)
A map of Technology Square
As a result, the company says, the dual-car system decreases the number of elevators shafts needed in the building, opening up space for more workers or needed climate control or technology infrastructure.
Thyssenkrupp was in the vanguard in metro Atlanta, becoming one of the first major companies to establish an innovation center at Georgia Tech. Now the company’s most sophisticated elevator systems will be featured in Tech’s newest building.
Link: Georgia Tech’s leap across the Downtown Connector pays off
The ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for April 20.
Rendering of the High Performance Computing Center. Source: Portman and Georgia Tech
Additional coverage:
Link: City of Atlanta to offer incentives for Tech Square expansion
Link: Southern Co. plans innovation center at Tech Square
Link: Georgia Tech seeks grant to study 60-acre innovation park
