Photo: The 11-story, 346,000-square-foot building in downtown Birmingham will replace the nearby, 61-year-old Spain Rehabilitation Center. | Photo Credit (all): Courtesy of Hoar Construction
By Lindsey Coulter
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Alabama at Birmingham has completed its new Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility, a 346,000-square-foot building in downtown Birmingham. The 11-story facility will replace the nearby, 61-year-old Spain Rehabilitation Center.
The project was designed by Gresham Smith, and Hoar Construction served as the general contractor for the project. The first four floors of the building are a parking deck, while the top seven floors hold hospital space with state-of-the-art therapy equipment, including high-tech patient lifts on floors nine and 10 that will help raise and walk patients from their beds to other areas of their room with little assistance.
“Building on UAB’s six decades of excellence in rehabilitation, this innovative new facility will dramatically advance our comprehensive, inpatient care for those with life-altering injuries or conditions,” said UAB President Ray Watts, M.D., in a statement. “With leading-edge technology and expertise—and the specialized, compassionate care that’s at the heart of our health system—this pavilion will bring hope and healing to patients around Alabama, our region and beyond.”
The first floor of the hospital features a dedicated wheelchair skills room, where patients can build confidence navigating a variety of surfaces, as well as a therapy courtyard designed to support recovery through movement. The courtyard includes multiple walking paths, stepping stones, basketball courts and a putting green. Inside, the wheelchair room is highlighted by a striking mosaic wall boasting Italian-imported tiles, while the building’s south side is lined with wall-to-wall glass that offers sweeping views of the greater Birmingham area and the Vulcan statue, an iconic local landmark and symbol of strength for patients.
“Delivering a project of this magnitude in the heart of downtown Birmingham demanded an exceptional level of coordination, precision and trust among all project partners, and every person involved rose to that challenge,” said Michael Broadaway II, superintendent at Hoar. “We worked side-by-side with UAB to ensure this facility sets a new standard for rehabilitation hospitals, both in functionality and patient experience. Helping bring UAB’s vision to life and contributing to a space that will support countless recovery journeys has been a proud moment in Hoar’s ongoing commitment to healthcare.”
Hoar worked closely with UAB and project partners to navigate the complexities of building in a dense, urban landscape, which required careful sequencing to ensure that materials were delivered on time without disrupting traffic or pedestrian safety.
“We had a lot of building components going up at once, from metal wall panels to curtainwall to screenwall, and the use of these technologies significantly improved the sequencing and installations of materials,” said Broadaway.
The company also implemented strategic technologies to ease scheduling and assessments, which included a 360° camera from Multivista to take weekly photos of floors during the installation periods, which were then cross-referenced using building information modeling (BIM) to identify any adjustments needed to plan before installations.
This project continues a longstanding relationship between Hoar and UAB, which includes collaboration on past projects such as the 60,000-square-foot eighth-floor buildout of UAB Women & Infants Center and the 885,000-square-foot, 11-story North Pavilion at UAB Hospital.