PHOTO TOUR: Birmingham East VA Clinic
Bob Greenspan Photography
The lobby is warm and welcoming using glass and wood accents to create a calm space for veterans as they enter and exit. A glass feature wall frames the centrally located reception desk and check-in kiosks. Indirect cove lighting provides warm light in the space and highlights the feature wall.
Bob Greenspan Photography
Wood accents frame the patient check-in area in the main lobby. A soft blue accent color helps define wayfinding, while neutral terrazzo flooring brightens the space while offering durability and low maintenance.
Bob Greenspan Photography
This light-filled concourse off the main lobby provides an array of comfortable seating options for families and patients. Large room numbers above group therapy rooms are used for quick and easy wayfinding, while clearstory windows allow natural light into the facility.
Bob Greenspan Photography
The waiting area of the main concourse creates a calming space utilizing the same color and materials palette as the lobby, while carpet was added to give a sense of coziness and improve insulation and acoustics.
A central component of the wayfinding system is color-coded floors and departments, as shown here in the second-floor waiting area. Numbered signage and floor patterns further help guide visitors through the space. A glass feature wall frames a centralized patient waiting area, creating a focal point for patients.
Bob Greenspan Photography
Soaring two-story glass walls combine harmoniously with wood-look metal panels and stone to create a welcoming entrance. The canopy reduces glare and diffuses sunlight through translucent panels supported by painted steel beams.
Bob Greenspan Photography
VA Birmingham harmoniously blends natural and modern architectural features. For example, cream manufactured stone accents the modern aesthetic of glass and metal cladding above. The high-performance glass façade help the clinic blend into the surrounding landscape while ensuring abundant daylight far into the clinic’s interior.
Veterans Affairs (VA; Birmingham, Ala.) wanted to relocate and centralize mental health services from its downtown Birmingham, hospital into a new facility, while also freeing up space in its existing hospital for other services.
The new 71,000-square-foot Birmingham East VA Clinic, opened in January, consolidates outpatient mental health services, including specialty clinics for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder, and psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery, as well as group psychotherapy and psychiatry, day programs, suicide prevention, in-home intensive case management, couples and family therapy, telehealth programs, peer support, and homeless programs.
Architecture firm Hoefer Welker (Leawood, Kan.) used evidence-based design principles such as biophilic design, expansive windows to allow a connection to nature, and abundant daylight and calming colors. The facility’s clinic modules are arranged in distinct zones to reduce travel distances for patients and staff, while creating separation between patient care and administrative/support spaces. Overall site planning, functional arrangement, and interior and exterior architectural concepts were developed with the patient experience in mind.
The clinic’s interior design was inspired by nature—specifically the connection to Ruffner Mountain, Flora Johnston Nature Park, and the valley between them. The orientation of the building allows the main public concourse to be filled with light, creating a comfortable setting. A continuous glass wall enhances wayfinding by maintaining a streamlined path to specific departments. The building’s high-performance glass and glazing systems provide transparency and connectivity while reducing energy consumption. This glazing makes it easy for visitors to orient themselves by looking outside, while strategic interior material selection such as colored terrazzo provides visual wayfinding cues.
Project details:
Facility name: Birmingham East VA Clinic
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Completion date: January 2022
Owner: US Federal Properties Co. LLC
Total building area: 71,000 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: Confidential
Cost/sq. ft.: Confidential
Architecture firm: Hoefer Welker
Interior design: Hoefer Welker
General contractor: Hoar Construction
Engineering: Sain Associates (civil engineer), Bob D. Campbell & Co. (structural engineer), Smith & Boucher Inc. (mechanical engineer), LAND3 Studio LLC (landscape architect), FSC Inc. (life safety), Protection Engineering (blast engineer)
