
Creating a New smiLe
July 19, 2017
Few objects are more functional than a table, yet bDot Architecture in Birmingham has designed one that takes the functionality of a table to even greater heights. The smiLe table is a custom-design play table for children with special needs,...

Nequette Architecture & Design: Creating a New Space to Create New Design
June 20, 2017
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, who...

New Park and Community Center Set to Open in Pratt City Early Summer 2018
June 16, 2017
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 long-term...

Brewing Design In Mobile
June 16, 2017
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 other...

Planning Creates Place
May 23, 2017
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 Cawood’s...

Historic Morris Avenue Building Renovated for a Bridal Fashion House
May 23, 2017
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 the...

Tiny Homes: Creating Large Design
May 23, 2017
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 Homes...

New BJCTA Intermodal Station
April 18, 2017
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 downtown...

City of Alabaster Creates Overlay District for State Route 119
April 18, 2017
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 established...

Industrial Design Creating Community- A Linear Example
April 18, 2017
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 controlled...