1912 Central Contracting Company
1939
1946 Henry C. Beck Company
1981 HCB Contractors
1997 The Beck Group
As Joe B. Hutchison recalls: “In February 1939, Mr. Beck walked into our little office in Nashville and told me: ‘I want you in Atlanta tomorrow morning to open an office.’ You didn’t argue with Mr. Beck. He just told you what he wanted done, and you did it, so I did exactly as I was told. He really expected me to be in Atlanta and ready to do business the next day - and I was there. That was all there was to it.” Hutchison was instructed to find an office for “no more than $50 per month” and 1939
to hire a secretary “for no more than $70 per month,’’ and he managed to do both. He rented a two-room office in the old First National Bank Building at Marietta and White Hall Street on “Five Points,’’ the famed intersection in the heart of downtown Atlanta. “There was just myself and a lady named Alice Mansfield, whom I hired as our first Atlanta employee,” Hutchison recollects. “My title was supposed to be general manager, but I don’t ever remember using it. Mrs. Mansfield and I worked in one room, and Mr. Beck used the other one when he was in the city. I think our whole budget for furnishings was $300, but, of course, in those days, you could also buy a brand-new Ford for about $700, so that wasn’t so bad.”
This page
Gulf Oil Building Milledgeville State Hospital
1940s
The first major job landed by the Atlanta office was at Milledgeville State Hospital at nearby Milledgeville, Georgia, where Hutchison and Beck submitted separate bids on three virtually identical buildings-and won all three contracts. “Our first bid was $469,711,” Hutchison recalls with a wide grin. “The $711 that we tacked on was my idea. As a crapshooter, I thought the ‘seven’ and ‘eleven’ combination would be lucky for us, and it was. So after we got the first contract, we bid the other two at exactly the same price and got them, too.” As Hutchison puts it: “First Milledgeville, then Fort Benning were the two jobs that really got us started in Atlanta. After that, from 1939 until the end of World War II, if you weren’t working for some branch of the federal government, you usually weren’t working, period. For the most part, there just wasn’t anything else to do.”
Clockwise Top left
Fulton National Bank VA Hospital Communicable Disease Center Building One Georgia Baptist Hospital
1950s
In 1955, Beck completed a skyscraper for Corrigan - in Atlanta - that received national recognition in many publications. The 25-story office tower, the Fulton National Bank Building, was not only the tallest on the Atlanta skyline but also the first high-rise to be built in the Georgia capital since the Thirties, and the first skyscraper in the city’s history to be fully air conditioned. When completed, the Fulton Bank rose a majestic 259 feet above street level and contained the only fully automatic high-speed elevators in Atlanta. Beck also built the Communicable Disease Center Building One in Atlanta. A joint venture of Beck-Utah, the project included six buildings. The pen used by Joe Hutchison to sign the bid on the center, along with the pen used to sign the bid for the animal laboratory in Iowa, were framed with inscriptions and hung in Henry C. Beck Jr’s office as mementos of the company’s new thrust into healthcare related construction, and as a reminder of how important successful bidding is. The National Animal Disease Laboratory and what is now known as The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention constitute the two most significant medical research facilities in the U.S. today.
Clockwise Top left
First National Bank Of Atlanta Tower – 2 Peachtree 270 Peachtree (Georgia Power Company) Bank of Georgia (34 Peachtree)
1960s
In 1961, Beck completed the Bank of Georgia building, located at 34 Peachtree Street, known today as One Park Tower. The rapid growth of the Atlanta area in the 1960s was symbolized by such massive Beck-built projects such as the 40-story, 780,000-square-foot First National Bank of Atlanta. This project was one in which Henry Beck, Jr., and Joe Hutchison participated as owners along with the bank itself. Combined with the existing bank, the new structure comprised the largest and tallest banking facility in the Southeast, and Henry C. Beck Company’s Atlanta division office became one of the first tenants in the new building when it opened in late 1966.
Clockwise Top left
Tower Place 101 Marietta Street Peachtree Summit
1970s
The peak period of the Atlanta boom began in mid-1973 as Beck began work on Tower Place, a $47 million mixed use development at Peachtree and Piedmont Roads. The first phase of the project was a 29-story, 650,000-square-foot office tower. It was quickly followed by 101 Marietta, a 35-story, $35 million office tower with an unusual trapezoidal shape and 635,000 square feet of space. And before the end of the year, Beck also had the contract for the 30-story, $34 million Peachtree Summit project, part of a proposed $150 million multi-purpose development. Another major Beck project was the 299-room, 14-story Century Center Motor Hotel, completed in August 1975. Beck also built the Georgia Baptist Professional Building and a number of office park projects in Atlanta during this busy period. In 1975 Beck was selected to construct the first phase of the Piedmont Center and completed fourteen buildings totaling more than 2 million square feet of office space and 6,000-car parking facilities until 1997.
This spread
Piedmont Center Building 1-4 The Beck Group completed multiple projects totaling more than 2 million square feet from 1975 to 1997.
1970s
1970s
1980s
This Page
One Atlantic Center
When Beck’s IBM Tower project completed in 1987, it was the tallest building in Atlanta and it remains a landmark in the city’s recognizable skyline. Now known as One Atlantic Center, the 50-story, 1.1 million square feet tower is topped by a 100 foot-high copper pyramid roof cap, its most famous feature. The accompanying award-winning Regions Plaza completed in 2001.
This Page
Cumberland Center II Buckhead Tower at Lenox Square Opposite page Clockwise Top left
55 Park Place Monarch Plaza Ritz Carlton Buckhead Ritz Carlton Downtown
1980s
1980s
1980s
This spread
Piedmont Center Building 5-8
1980s
This spread
Lenox Square Mall | The Beck Group has completed multiple projects from 1982 to present
1990s
New Entry Facade at Lenox Square (2014)
This spread
Lenox Square Mall Main Wing Overbuild
1990s
This Sread
Underground Atlanta
1990s
1990s
This Page Clockwise Top left
Parkside at Lenox Park Lakeside Lenox Park Piedmont Center Building 15 Opposite Page
Piedmont Center Building 14
1990s
1990s
This Page
Discover Mills Mall Opposite Page
One Atlantic Center (IBM Tower 1987) Regions Plaza (Atlantic Center Plaza 2001)
2000s
2000s
This Spread
Lenox Square Mall Luxury Wing Overbuild
2000s
2000s
This page
Neiman Marcus at Lenox Square Mall
2000s
This page
Cathedral of Christ the King Addition
2000s
This Spread
Two Alliance Center
2010
This Spread
GSA Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building, Historic Restoration
Project Name
2011
This spread
Georgia Institute of Technology College of Architecture Hinman Research Building, Adaptive Reuse
2011
2012
This page
Federal Office Building and Parking Deck
The turn of a new century also saw the arrival of full design services in the Atlanta office. Current Beck CEO, Fred Perpall, grew the fledgling architecture group through a series of noted projects, including His Hands Church and the Duke University Center for Athletic Excellence – the first of many design and build projects for Duke University. The late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received a fitting tribute when Beck completed the restoration of the historic GSA Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building, using green technologies and innovative preservation practices. Beck continued to make its mark on Atlanta with a series of design and build projects for various federal clients, including the award-winning Federal Office Building.
2012
This Spread and next Spread
Federal Office Building and Parking Deck
2014
This spread
Lenox Square Mall New Entry Facade
This Page
Duke University Center for Athletic Excellence
For the past 75 years in the Southeast region, every success, celebration, innovation and achievement of The Beck Group has come through our team’s dedicated efforts and our outstanding clients. Our goal for the next quarter-century is to continue delivering innovative solutions that fulfill our company mission: “Revolutionize our Industry … Create the Future!”
This Page
DukeAlliance Two University Center Center for Athletic Excellence
From our founding in 1912, Beck has been known as a leader in the building industry. We have grown to offer a full range of services that make for better buildings, including expertise in architecture, construction, sustainability and technology. What sets Beck apart is our ability and understanding gained by integrating these skills into a cohesive team. While others in the building industry are talking about greater collaboration, design/build, and integrated project delivery, Beck has invested in these ideas for over a decade. Our Integrated Enterprise merges our services together within the same company, maximizing efficiencies, knowledge sharing, creativity and technology—creating an entity with a mutual commitment to achieve our customers’ objectives. Our reputation is maintained through the tireless efforts of our most valuable asset, our dedicated staff of over 500 employees, working among offices in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Mexico City, San Antonio and Tampa. Our size and strategic locations allow us to bring flexibility, speed and expertise on projects on a national and international scale. Yet our focus is always on cultivating personalized, long-term relationships with our customers, seeking opportunities to bring quality, value and integrity to every project.
Atlanta Austin Architecture www.beckgroup.com
Construction Sustainability Technology
Dallas Denver Fort Worth Houston Mexico City San Antonio Tampa