Cobb Energy Centre is located at the east corner of Akers Mill Road and Cobb Galleria Parkway, overlooking I-75 just south of the I-285 highway interchange. It was designed by architects Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, and built by general contractor Hardin Construction. The asymmetrical top of the building rises above the multi-story glass facade that allows views of the grand alabaster staircase and lobbies beyond when lit at night. The rising waves were meant to soften the transition to the fly tower required over the stage. Just inside the entrance, visitors are greeted by the commissioned muralThe Nine Muses by Jimmy O'Neal. The chandeliers in the main lobby and those in the ballroom are the Nastro designed by Tobia Scarpa and made by . The interior throughout the Centre makes extensive use of traditional theater colors such red and gold as well as dark wood finishes. The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre is the only performing arts center in memory to be completed within schedule and budget.
Performance and other venues
John A. Williams Theatre
This 2,750-seat theater at the core of the Centre was designed to accommodate both acoustic and amplified performances with the specific intent of attracting touring companies of Broadway shows. Within the theatre itself, seating is distributed on three levels — orchestra, mezzanine and grand tier — and fourteen balcony boxes. The most distant seat in the upper level is only from the stage. Metallic-mesh triangular screens undulate across the ceiling to hide catwalks. The stage features a hydraulic lift for the 30-foot deep orchestra pit large enough for 84 musicians. The theatre is surrounded by a thick concrete wall on the perimeter for acoustic isolation. The Centre's first resident company is the Atlanta Opera, which relocated from the cavernous Atlanta Civic Center in downtown Atlanta. The Opera's first production in the new facility was Puccini's Turandot.
Ballroom
The facility includes a ballroom available for event rental.
Other facilities
The adjoining parking deck has 1,000 spaces. It also has access to Cobb Community Transit, which may move its Cumberland Transfer Station over I-75 adjacent to the center if the Northwest Corridor HOV/BRT is built. The parking deck for the "bus rapid transit" station would be next to the Centre.
The Centre was used as the conference center for the KEN talk in the 2014 film Dumb and Dumber To. It was also used as the Center for Disease Control in AMC's The Walking Dead. It was mentioned as a location that the Barden Bella's had performed at, in Pitch Perfect Scenes were filmed in the theatre for the 2012 filmParental Guidance.
