Campus & Community

Look for these seven new spaces transforming UAB’s campus

UAB continues to implement its Campus Master Plan through new facilities and renovations to enhance instruction, research, technology and student life.
Written by: Haley Herfurth
Media contact: Yvonne Taunton


The University of Alabama at Birmingham has developed seven innovative spaces from its Campus Master Plan. Some are complete, some are under construction, and others are in the planning stages. These include a new home for Information Technology, a newly named residence hall, the Science and Engineering Complex, and the ongoing renovations to McCallum Hall.

Keep an eye out for upcoming grand openings and new construction starting in August. 

newly named McMahon Hall Photo of the McMahon Hall which opened in fall 2020 on the south half of the block bordered by Ninth and 10th avenues South and 16th and 17th streets.Photography: Andrea MabryMcMahon Hall

Formerly known as Residence Hall 2020 and Green Hall, the newly named McMahon Hall opened in fall 2020 on the south half of the block bordered by Ninth and 10th avenues South and 16th and 17th streets. The $73 million, 231,000-square-foot McMahon Hall can house more than 710 students and includes dedicated study spaces, a storm shelter, multiuse office space and a dining venue with three food vendors. The residence hall is UAB’s third LEED-certified building, after University and Honors halls, and the first to earn a LEED Gold ranking. The ribbon-cutting was May 26. 

The new Technology Innovation Center, which opened this spring and replaces the Rust Computer Center, is located at 17th Street South and Ninth Avenue on the site of the former Ninth Avenue Office Building.Photography: Steve WoodTechnology Innovation Center

The new building, which opened this spring and replaces the Rust Computer Center, is located at 17th Street South and Ninth Avenue on the site of the former Ninth Avenue Office Building. It hosts the fastest high-performance research computer in the state and the data highway that connects researchers throughout the University of Alabama System. It also will house the campus internet connectivity and technology infrastructure and host co-location services to campus, offering power, bandwidth, cooling and physical security for servers used throughout the university. It is home to individual workspaces for UAB IT employees, plus an innovative and cost-efficient Tesla Powerpack battery system that increases system reliability and availability while reducing the carbon footprint. The building also boasts other innovative features to meet the technology needs of UAB students, faculty, researchers and clinicians. 

One location of the campus food pantry has moved from Medical Towers to a newly renovated space at 1613 11th Ave. South, formerly Birmingham Pediatric Dental Associates. The Benevolent Fund offices also relocated to the new space.  Photography: Andrea MabryBlazer Kitchen relocation

One location of the campus food pantry has moved from Medical Towers to a newly renovated space at 1613 11th Ave. South, formerly Birmingham Pediatric Dental Associates. The Benevolent Fund offices also relocated to the new space.  

Located at the northwest corner of 20th Street South and University Boulevard, McCallum Basic Health Science building has undergone both internal and exterior renovations in recent months. Updates to research labs on the eighth and ninth floors were completed in March 2020, and exterior renovations give the 37-year-old building a more modern look. A facelift for the façade on floors two through seven is underway.Photography: Lexi CoonMcCallum Basic Health Sciences Building renovations

Located at the northwest corner of 20th Street South and University Boulevard, McCallum has undergone both internal and exterior renovations in recent months. Updates to research labs on the eighth and ninth floors were completed in March 2020, and exterior renovations give the 37-year-old building a more modern look. A facelift for the façade on floors two through seven is underway.

The new UAB Science and Engineering Complex, which will be home to the university’s basic sciences programs, will be built on the site of the Education Building on 14th Street South between University Boulevard and 10th Avenue South. Science and Engineering Complex

The new UAB Science and Engineering Complex, which will be home to the university’s basic sciences programs, will be built on the site of the Education Building on 14th Street South between University Boulevard and 10th Avenue South. It will feature collaboration rooms to foster a team-learning environment and research labs that allow for student shadowing and project-based research. Demolition began on the Education Building in May; a 48-year-old legacy Japanese maple, believed to be planted when the building was erected in 1973 as Building No. 1, was relocated from the site to the Alumni House.

A state-of-the-art practice facility for UAB Basketball was approved by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees in February. The $8.5 million facility, which will be a renovation of the current Physical Education Building, will be home to both the men’s and women’s basketball teams and will include two full-length practice courts, coaches’ suites, locker rooms and players’ lounges for each program. UAB Basketball practice facility renovation

A state-of-the-art practice facility for UAB Basketball was approved by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees in February. The $8.5 million facility, which will be a renovation of the current Physical Education Building, will be home to both the men’s and women’s basketball teams and will include two full-length practice courts, coaches’ suites, locker rooms and players’ lounges for each program. When completed, this project will be one of many capital projects and facility renovations UAB has invested in, bringing the total to 24 new or renovated athletics facilities during the past five years. Work on the facility began May 14.

Announced in December 2020, the Altec Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building is part of the School of Medicine’s long-range plan to enhance research in genomic medicine and computational biology, and is central to the overall complex of interconnected research and support facilities located at UAB’s hub of basic and translational research enterprise. Altec Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building

Announced in December 2020, this new building is part of the School of Medicine’s long-range plan to enhance research in genomic medicine and computational biology, and is central to the overall complex of interconnected research and support facilities located at UAB’s hub of basic and translational research enterprise. The Kracke Building and the Pittman Center for Advanced Medical Studies will be razed this summer to make way for the enhanced space, which will renovate the existing Lyons-Harrison Research Building to encompass 145,000 square feet of new computational research, research support, office, administrative, and scientific collaboration and meeting spaces.

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