As Atlantans bemoan the growing prevalence of banal architecture, developer JPX Works has arrived on scene to change the tune. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the locally based company is planning to bring a distinctive 24-story residential tower to south Midtown, across the street from the Fox Theatre. Billed as a "vertical village of transparent glass," the building will be anything but the all-too typical concrete-and-reflective-glass edifice, instead featuring individually articulated units interspersed with greenery and topped with a mini urban forest. For a site that's vacant — save for a derelict two-story brick building that's been abandoned for the better part of a decade — most Atlantans would probably agree that this is a welcome change.







According to the agenda of the Midtown Development Review Committee, the tower is slated to have 150 units, and will include around 4,000 square feet of street retail. The renderings show two-story glass boxes, framed in white, stacked atop each other like a massive Jenga tower. Each unit appears to be split between levels, with adjoining balconies facing either Peachtree or Third Street.

This isn't JPX and ODA's first act for Atlanta. Earlier this year, they previewed a somewhat similar design in Buckhead, which is slated to start construction next year.

JPX is lead by Bruce Fernald and Jarel Portman, a scion of Atlanta's most famous architect. Speaking with the ABC about the tower designs, Portman said the company's goal is to "challenge conformity" and "be inspired by what we are working on."

An earlier version of this article surmised that the living spaces in each residence would be double-height. The article has been changed to reflect clarification from JPX that all spaces are single-story.

· JPX Works planning a "transparent vertical village of transparent glass" [Atlanta Business Chronicle]

· Atlanta's First Condo Tower in Years Could Look Like This [Curbed Atlanta]