The Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta has announced five architecture teams and possible designs for its new home. The finalist teams include: Diller Scofidio + Renfro of New York with Stanley Beaman & Sears of Atlanta; Freelon Group of Durham, NC with HOK of Atlanta; Huff + Gooden Architects of New York with Hammel Green and Abrahamson of Minneapolis; Moody•Nolan of Columbus, OH with Antoine Predock Architect of Albuquerque, NM and Goode Van Slyke of Atlanta; Polshek Partnership Architects of New York with Cooper Carry and Stanley Love-Stanley of Atlanta.

The center, organized in 2005 by Mayor Shirley Franklin, plans to open in 2012 on a 2.2 acre site on the edge of Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. “We will be located next to two more entertainment oriented institutions, the World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium, that generate a lot of foot traffic. We asked the teams to create a space that will help visitors transition to a more contemplative state,” executive director Douglas Shipman said.

After issuing a RFQ in November 2008, which garnered interest from dozens of firms, according to Shipman, the Center and its design jury narrowed the list down to twenty firms. They then asked the firms to submit a “design narrative” and complete team roster. “We didn’t want them to draw anything. We wanted them to demonstrate their way of working,” he said. That group was then narrowed down to the final five teams, who were then given a small design stipend as well as a detailed exhibition design program.

The five teams have responded in strikingly different ways. Diller Scofidio + Renfro/Stanley Beaman & Sears created a layered design, with much of the exhibition space below grade and a thin cantilevered roof hanging over an outdoor garden. Freelon/HOK designed a pair of interlocking L-shaped volumes topped with green roofs. Huff + Gooden/Hammel Green and Abrahamson presented the most austere scheme, a low-slung horizontal volume with wide expanses of glass, which hangs over the sloping site supported by a massive truss. The Moody•Nolan/Predock/Goode Van Slyke engaged directly with the park-side setting with a building-as-landscape design and a glazed entrance carved out of the middle. The Polshek/Cooper Carry/Stanley-Love-Stanley design calls for a collection of glazed flat roofed wings with projection screens, accented by a tall, thin concrete entrance portal.

In addition judging the degree to which the designs fulfill the institution’s esthetic and programmatic goals, the jury will also consider the environmental sensitivity of the projects and the level of participation by women and minority owned firms. The jury of 13 including civil rights leader Juanita Abernathy, Chelsea Piers founder Tom Bernstein, filmmaker George C. Wolfe, and architects Alan Balfour, Deborah Berke, and Craig VanDevere—will make its recommendation to the Center’s board in late March. Ground is expected to be broken late this year.