BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Engineering will soon have an impressive new home. After years of being housed in multiple locations, the school will relocate to the new Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall, part of the Science and Engineering Complex.

As UAB continues to see tremendous growth, the School of Engineering endeavors to build a facility that will support its goals of attracting faculty, increasing grant funding and training the next generation.

“Gorrie Hall, the new, state-of-the-art home for our School of Engineering will bring greater collaboration, innovation and competitiveness in attracting top students and faculty, as well as increased grant funding for leading-edge research,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees voted in 2022 to name the building after the Gorries in grateful recognition of the Gorrie family and Brasfield & Gorrie’s longtime efforts to support the university.

“We are grateful to the Gorrie family and to our other partners community- and statewide for helping us build on the excellence of UAB Engineering.”

Architecture and engineering firm Goodwyn Mills Cawood is designing the building, with Lord Aeck Sargent (LAS) serving as the lab and research spaces consultant and Brasfield & Gorrie as general contractor.

The sophisticated technology and design of Gorrie Hall will be on display in prominently featured “showpiece” spaces throughout the nearly 116,000-square-foot facility. These advanced labs, research suites and common areas will form the core of students’ college experiences and the heart of UAB Engineering for years to come.

To ensure that UAB’s diverse student population has every opportunity to thrive, the Student Success Center will be composed of three major components:

Peer Tutoring Lab: The peer tutoring lab provides face-to-face, individualized academic support for all first- and second-year courses, improving retention rates and encouraging successful academic outcomes.

Mentorship Programs: These additional student support systems will offer multiple layers of mentoring — from peers, alumni and local professionals.

Internship and Career Center: This center will provide students with hands-on, real-world experience through a guaranteed internship program while also introducing them to potential employers.

The 2,000-square-foot materials testing lab will house the equipment needed to conduct compression, bending, tensile and impact testing on materials ranging from concrete and steel to gels and foams. This lab will be crucial not only to graduates’ training, but also to efforts to introduce local K-12 students to potential careers in engineering.

Additional features of the building will include research and teaching labs, a design and rapid prototyping lab, transportation and smart cities research suite, student study commons, and outdoor patio.

“Design of science and engineering buildings has changed so much in the last 30-plus years,” said Jeffrey W. Holmes, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Engineering. “This building will allow us to bring the majority of our academic and research efforts together under one roof for the first time. Students, staff and faculty from all our departments will be constantly interacting in the hallways and the offices.”

Construction is expected to be complete in summer 2025.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for Residence Hall 2020, a facility that will help the school meet the increased demand of on-campus housing.

Plans for the new residence hall allow for more than 730 students to join the 2,880 students housed in UAB’s six other residence halls.

“Our undergraduate enrollment continues to grow, and the next phase of on-campus development and growth is ready to begin,” said John Jones, Ph.D., vice president of Student Affairs. “The need for this new residence hall sends a phenomenal message to our future students in that we continue to be committed to provide a robust university experience through our residence life opportunities. Providing a residential component where students live together on campus creates communities across undergraduate academic disciplines and fuels our collegial and creative environment and further enhances the overall student experience at UAB.”

The Residence Hall 2020 project architect is Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, Inc. The general contractor is M.J. Harris Construction Services, LLC. The facility has been designed intentionally to ensure sustainability is a priority, and it will become UAB’s first LEED silver building.

The 231,000-square-foot residence hall will mirror the location of the New Freshman Residence Hall and will be built near the Campus Green on property owned by UAB — the south half of the block bordered by ninth and 10th avenues south and 16th and 17th streets. The U-shaped building will consist of dedicated study spaces, a storm shelter, multi-use office space, and a dining venue with three food vendors and seating capacity for 250.

“This is truly a win for our students,” said Marc Booker, director of Student Housing. “The residence halls play an integral role of providing transformational experiences for UAB undergraduate students as they pursue academic success and prepare for life beyond the campus. This new hall will enable us to serve, engage and retain more students than ever before.”

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