Twenty miles south of the main Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Specialty Center South houses four surgery suites with support clinics to serve a regional base as an extension of the main campus. The site is a steep tri­angle, with its long side facing the highway and its legs abutting residential lots. The 120,000sf rectangular build­ing is sited parallel to the highway with its tall, southern façade open to the view beyond. Carved into the hillside, the building’s north side presents a lower scale to the neighborhood. A rough-hewn sandstone plinth acts as a transition between the densely-wooded site and the machined frame of the building, and projects beyond the building to form an exterior plaza and to screen the central plant and parking.

 

The first phase of Children’s Specialty Center South was designed and built on a fast-track schedule in 22 months.

 

Honor Award I/AIA

Honor Award II/AIA

Merit Award/AIA

Business Alabama/Published