When Harold’s Furniture store recently closed after 50 years, many prospective buyers looked at the early masonry building on Second Avenue North in downtown Birmingham. Yet not one of them could see its potential. No one except Louise Nequette,... Read more
Pratt City, part of the greater Birmingham area, was among the many communities devastated by the April 2011 “super outbreak” of tornados that swept through much of central Alabama. One Pratt Park and Community Center are part of a... Read more
Across America, vacant buildings are being converted into craft breweries and Alabama is no exception. Two such projects are under way in downtown Mobile – one in a 1960s building that was a Goodyear Auto Service Center and the... Read more
Planning is vital to making a community more cohesive. Community planning, particularly long- range comprehensive planning, establishes consensus in the community as a means to guide its future, explains Brandon Bias, community and regional planner in Goodwyn, Mills and... Read more
It’s no easy feat to restore an old building to use in a radically new way, while at the same time retaining its original character. That’s what Heidi Elnora did with one of the oldest buildings on one of... Read more
Tiny houses have been all the rage for some time. There’s even a TV show called “Tiny House Nation” about living in a structure under 500 square feet. Jeffrey Dungan Architects in Birmingham has partnered with Maryville, Tennessee-based Clayton... Read more
Birmingham’s public transportation has been upgraded with the opening of the new Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority intermodal station. Amtrak, Max, Greyhound and Megabus terminals are together in the facility that takes up three blocks along Morris Avenue in... Read more
A plan was recently approved to steer the growth of a high-traffic corridor and major gateway into Alabaster — the largest city in Shelby County and fourth largest in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area. State Route 119 Overlay District was... Read more
Like other design disciplines, industrial design can help develop and define a community. A dynamic example is “Linear Motion,” a moving sculpture that helps to not only define the McWane Science Center but its Birmingham surroundings. The robotically... Read more
Landscape architecture encourages people to get out – to walk, to recreate, to dine outdoors, enjoy an outdoor concert, or simply take pleasure in a natural environment, notes landscape architect Joel Eliason, principal of Nimrod Long and Associates... Read more
