Students, faculty and staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have a new addition — and completion — to their Campus Green this upcoming fall.
University Hall — the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building at UAB — will celebrate its grand opening at 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. The event will take place at 1402 10th Ave. South.
“The rapid growth of our undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences necessitated additional modern teaching facilities and technologies,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. “This beautiful new facility will transform our educational areas in the college. The faculty, staff, leadership, students, community supporters, alumni and Board of Trustees worked together with us to make this project become a reality, and they are to be commended for their hard work to help provide this world-class, environmentally friendly and visually stunning educational facility.”
The $39 million, 109,110-square-foot facility will house seven UAB College of Arts and Sciences departments: anthropology, computer science, English, foreign languages and literatures, mathematics, philosophy, and social work — serving more than 50 percent of UAB students through one of its 29 majors and 19 departments. All freshmen, regardless of their majors, are taught by arts and sciences faculty for their core classes.
| “This beautiful new facility will transform our educational areas in the college. The faculty, staff, leadership, students, community supporters, alumni and Board of Trustees worked together with us to make this project become a reality, and they are to be commended for their hard work to help provide this world-class, environmentally friendly and visually stunning educational facility,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. |
“This is an exciting time to be a UAB Blazer,” said UAB Provost Pam Benoit. “This new building demonstrates our continued commitment to the arts and sciences curriculum at a comprehensive research university as large as UAB. The fine arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, and the natural sciences and mathematics are all necessary for a thriving institution, and we have all of those within the College of Arts and Sciences. This college is vital to our university and provides programs that attract the best students and faculty. This beautiful new facility will only facilitate more growth and success in the College of Arts and Sciences and across the institution.”
“The College of Arts and Sciences has been undergoing a significant transformation with major focus on leadership development, faculty recruitment, facilities and infrastructure development, and student recruitment and success,” said Robert Palazzo, Ph.D., dean of the UAB College of Arts and Sciences. “The building environment is a key element for recruiting faculty and students. World-class facilities are needed to inspire our students and faculty and provide them with the infrastructure they need to be academically competitive. Our students deserve high-quality, safe learning environments. University Hall is our latest installment to make the UAB College of Arts and Sciences an academically productive, safe and inspiring destination, a place to be, a place to learn, and a place to excel.”
Building features
The LEED-certified building also has beautiful campus views and features. The landscape features a bridge that crosses a bioswale — natural solutions to storm water management — integrating sustainability with the user experience. The tiered patios feature seated walls and furniture that overlook the bioswales and the heart of the Campus Green. There is also seating provided on the south patios under the Heritage Tree that was preserved throughout construction.
The building has ground entrances on two levels. There is an accessible ramp that allows access from the Campus green elevation to the second-floor lobby entrance to provide multiple choices of paths. The auditorium, with just under 300 seats, is designed for lecture, theater practice and small performances, and serves as a storm shelter.
The building was designed by local architecture firm Goodwyn Mills Cawood and constructed in 18 months by M.J. Harris.
Goodwyn Mills Cawood designed the metal wall panels in the lobby featuring Blaze’s flame, which will be a photo-taking attraction for all. GMC also designed the terrazzo flooring on the first and second levels representing dragon tails weaving through the halls.
Additional features include departmental office spaces designed to accommodate future growth without needing additional renovations, classroom lighting programmed to harvest daylight while saving energy, and self-selected artistic wall-coverings representing each department’s subject matter.
The facility will also house “provost classrooms,” which are university-controlled classrooms that are open for anyone to use, even units outside of the College of Arts and Sciences.
“Nearly every student will have class in University Hall, and our Facilities team did not lose sight of that significance during the process,” said Denton Lunceford, assistant vice president for Planning Design and Construction in the UAB Facilities Division. “The coordination between our team, the team in the College of Arts and Sciences, and our construction partners was crucial to constructing a building that will serve our campus long into the future. We’re proud of this building and what it means for our students, and we can’t wait to see it open this fall.”
Students will begin classes in the building starting Monday, Aug. 26.