From Clinical to Comforting
Bessemer’s original UAB Medical West Hospital was built during a time when healthcare priorities and design philosophies centered on efficiency and standardization. Interiors were often clinical, and aesthetics were predominantly utilitarian finishes that set a cold, orderly tone. Sixty years later, that’s all changed. Today, the most dramatic difference between past and present is what visitors experience as soon as they walk through the doors. The hospital’s soaring main lobby immediately sets the tone, immersing them in expansive glass walls that flood the space with daylight and frame views of trees, sky, and water. International design firm HKS, Inc. and Birmingham-based KPS Group, a 60-year old firm rooted in architecture, interior design and urban planning, created this dramatic effect using native Alabama plant species as their guide. The team took a biophilic approach, producing a floor-by-floor gallery of nine regional flower and tree species, each distinguished by detailed photos and thoughtful textiles and wallcoverings that immerse visitors in a nature-inspired design story.
UAB Medical West Bessemer, Alabama
As healthcare systems across the U.S. address aging facilities, new construction is ushering in the next generation of architectural designs and interiors focused on improving the patient experience to promote health and well- being. University of Alabama Birmingham’s Medical West in McCalle, AL, is a prime example of this experiential upgrade. Replacing a 1960s-era hospital in Jefferson County, the new ultra-modern healthcare center features a hospital with the latest in medical technology and equipment and a unique design that prioritizes patient comfort.
P3TEC Bevel - Peridot
P3TEC Coastal Grass - Museum Piece
Integrating the health campus’s outdoor landscape with its interior design, the new hospital and adjoining medical office building stand in striking contrast to their predecessor, creating a restorative space grounded in regional plant life and Southern hospitality. With high- performance finishes that include Momentum’s P3TEC Advanced Wall Protection, the new health center’s interiors deliver the durability healthcare requires using colors and textures that support a healing environment.
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