It’s not difficult for visitors to Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park to spot the Googie Burger restaurant. Helping draw their eye to that newly renovated building is a signature roof form, rendered in Accu-Trac® aluminum composite material panels from Altech Panel Systems of Cartersville, GA.

The building’s design was developed by Levy Restaurants of Chicago, IL. The architect of record was Turner Associates/Architects & Planners Inc. of Atlanta. The associate architect was ai3 Inc., also of Atlanta.

“It was the desire of the client, Centennial Olympic Park, to transform an existing park building into an icon that would garner the attention of park patrons and visitors from all vantage points,” explained Patrick Johnson, AIA, Principal of ai3. “The solution for Googie Burger was reinventing the existing park building so that its roof form became a sign. ai3 sought to create this icon with a material that provided rigidity, a nod to the future, and a crisp edge that no other material provided. In using ACM, ai3 was able to provide a monolithic, but highly detailed form that represents a nostalgic look forward for the park.”

Altech fabricated the Accu-Trac® panels using aluminum composite planks manufactured by Intrabond of Manning, SC. The 4mm-thick panels are polyethylene-cored and have a Pure White PVDF paint finish. In all, 4,100 sq. ft. of the panels were utilized.

“One of the major challenges for transforming this building was the complex geometry design of the building,” said a project statement by Altech. “Each panel was unique, making fabrication complex. In order to achieve the aesthetic results it was essential to work closely with the architect, the general contractor and also with one of our premier installers, Diversified Panel Systems (of Social Circle, GA).”

The project’s general contractor was Prime Contractors, Douglasville, GA.