With sadness, MA announces the passing of Thomas W. “Tom” Ventulett III, FAIA, the co-founder of Atlanta architecture firm TVS, who died peacefully Aug. 24 at age 90.
Ventulett co-founded TVS in 1968 with William H. Thompson Jr. and Raymond F. Stainback Jr. Over a career spanning five decades, he helped establish the firm as a major designer of convention centers, sports facilities, and other public gathering spaces in Atlanta and around the world.
His influence was notable in downtown Atlanta, helping establish the city’s sports and entertainment district, including the Omni Coliseum in 1972, the Georgia World Congress Center in 1976, and Omni International, later known as the CNN Center, in the same year.
Those early developments helped establish the framework for subsequent projects around Atlanta’s downtown core, including infrastructure for the 1996 Olympics and, more recently, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened in 2017.
“Tom was a visionary, gentle leader who believed deeply in the power of design to bring people together,” TVS president Janet Simpson said. “He taught us that architecture begins with human empathy.”
While Ventulett helped shape Georgia’s architecture, his work was seen internationally, including the Javits Center in New York, McCormick Place in Chicago and the New China International Exposition Center in Beijing.
This hard work and dedication were honored in 2002 as TVS received the American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Firm Award, the organization’s highest honor for an architecture practice.
Ventulett maintained close ties to architectural education and the arts at his alma mater, Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, establishing the Thomas W. Ventulett III Distinguished Chair in Architectural Design to connect professional practice with architectural education.
TVS will host a tribute celebrating Ventulett’s life and professional legacy at its Atlanta office on Oct. 1. A public funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 3 at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church in Atlanta, a sanctuary designed by Ventulett.
