"Basically, what we had was a two-story structure, with a flat wood framed roof supported by 2-foot-thick solid granite exterior walls," said Bob Sussenbach, principal of CGLS Architects in Atlanta, who worked on the renovation. "We were asked to study the building and consider ideas to renovate it to house the school's growing arts department, and to redesign the building's exterior to better complement the Gothic architecture of the original 1942 campus buildings."
Overall, the campus has a distinctive Gothic Revival style, which was inspired by the honorary alma mater of founder James Oglethorpe's Corpus Christi College in Oxford, England. "The only thing that the building had in common with the original campus architecture was that it used a similar granite stonework on its exterior walls," said Sussenbach. "Everything else on the building reflected an odd mix of non-standard materials and styles. We came up with a concept and drawing, and presented it to the school officials. They were quite surprised that the building could be improved in such a way. Essentially, what we did was take off the entire roof and all existing windows, and built it back from there."