Propes Hall

Built in 1895 as Savannah’s first skyscraper, today Propes Hall honors its legacy of innovation as home to SCAD’s digital interactive services, technology help desk, information management and technology and audiovisual departments.

The five-story structure built for Citizens Bank of Savannah was designed by Gottfried L. Norrman, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Its Renaissance Revival-style architecture imaginatively combines a rusticated ground floor reminiscent of Richardsonian Romanesque buildings of the 1880s with baroque details of Beaux-Arts classicism.

With exterior curtain walls and an elevator, Propes exemplifies surprisingly early use of the same components of contemporary high rises in larger American cities. Made of brick and terra cotta, it was also Savannah’s first fire-proof building. SCAD acquired the building in 1992.