Friendship Baptist was displaced when the Atlanta Falcons began to acquire property for a new stadium. It was established in 1862 and is Atlanta’s first African American Baptist congregation – so designing their new space had a lot of significance.

With flexibility and the future in mind, the 44,000-SF church is designed to include a 500-seat sanctuary, educational rooms, choir space, counseling offices, and exhibition of the church’s history all outfitted with state-of-the-art technology and lighting.

The Fellowship Hall has a stage and room for over 450 people, while a smaller chapel seats 200. 

Because of the Church’s deep history, many elements of the historical Friendship Church building have been preserved and are incorporated into the new construction, such as the stained glass windows, original bell, and pipe organ.

What makes this project historically impactful is that the church was 155 years old. Initially, church services were held in a railroad boxcar – used for worship services on Sunday and as a classroom during the week.

Once Friendship established a more solid building, Spelman and Morris Brown Colleges were established in the basement. The church is also the “Mother” church to nine other African American Baptist congregations.