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Joel Blackstock, architect of the year
Congratulations Joel Blackstock for receiving the Subcontractors Association of Alabama 2015 Architect of the Year. Joel accepted the award at the annual SubAla Awards Banquet at The Club in Birmingham. The event recognizes members of the construction industry in Alabama.
WBA is honored to be acknowledged by Learning by Design Magazine for our work in the University of Alabama Student Center at Presidential Village.
“Designers were careful to blend the architectural style with the classic Alabama campus vernacular, using strong 2-story columns as a familiar welcome mat. Inside, the building’s transparency, finishes and furniture offer a clean, fresh, contemporary feel.”
On the north bluff of the University of Alabama campus, the new Student Center at Presidential Village rises over the Black Warrior River with grand columns befitting the classical style of the traditional campus core. Situated at the center of a residential village for thousands of students, this multi-purpose facility provides an engaging hub for student activity.
A classical exterior of striking brick and precast concrete wraps a modern interior volume of varied recreation spaces. The vast, transparent gymnasium, workout spaces, and grand patio share the dramatic view of the river activity beyond the tree-line, and provide inspiration in a setting that promotes wellness and a memorable, fit student experience.
The building also incorporates the rowing team’s training facilities, an administrative program, and a food service venue, all sitting atop a robust and well disguised, yet easily accessible, storm shelter for the protection of the entire village.
A central, skylight capped atrium, with a 40 foot tall climbing wall and freestanding tower, are connected along a grand organizing spine that provides transparency and a flood of natural light throughout the facility. From the two story entry hall to the huge covered patio, the interior palette of exposed concrete, glass, and steel define an engaging juxtaposition of sturdy monumental spaces with a sculptural core.
WBA is excited to be a part of the major expansion at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. The expansion will create a total of 250,000 square feet of museum space.
“This expansion will help keep us as the benchmark for motorcycle collections worldwide, people visit Birmingham from all over the world to see this museum and its collection, and we want to continue to ‘wow’ them with what they see. With programs and events like the Porsche Sport Driving School, the Mercedes‐Benz Brand Immersion Program, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama and the Triumph Superbike Challenge, it’s important that we always present an impeccable image for our sponsors and fans.”
“ A jury composed of four New York City architects judged all 53 entries based on clarity of construction, regional vernacular, structural logic, honesty and restraint, thoughtful detail, consistency, spatially thoughtful floor plans and sustainability.”
The design of Taylor + Miree Construction’s new office fits into the fabric of the small town community in a sensitive manner that highlights the skill and craftsmanship of the construction company. The project scope was to design a 5,385-square-foot building in a zero lot line within a “main street” setting to reinforce the scale and quality of the community and streetscape.
The exterior is designed with a finely articulated limestone and brick façade with a slate roof that respond to details found on neighboring buildings. Large picture windows reach out to the community to outwardly convey the culture of the company as well as to display their work and activity inside. The gabled structure at the front lobby and conference space creates a dramatic sense of arrival through the use of exposed steel trusses and wood decking.
On axis with the front entrance as one moves deeper into the building is a clerestory lit, central collaborative work space with community work tables for reviewing plans with exposed steel structure and wood. This collaborative work space is surrounded by offices with glass fronts where natural light is softly filtered into the offices from the central clerestory because the zero lot line siting limits the opportunity for windows into each office.
The interior design is punctuated with recycled wood throughout to provide a warm interior space and promote the sustainable design approach. The central community work space opens on axis to an outdoor deck for dining and gathering. The grade drops from the front of the building, allowing a covered parking garage to be tucked up under the building and the entire footprint of the site to be fully utilized for office space above.
The new home for the Homewood Board of Education Central Office is the first phase of a 24-acre development plan for the Homewood School System. The New Central Office provides for the programmatic needs of the Homewood City Schools administrative staff which includes offices, conference rooms, and meeting rooms for professional development and public events.
The building is conceived as a “garden pavilion” integrated with the site, intended to mediate between public and private, man-made and natural. Sited to create synergy between the Central Office, Middle School, Community Garden and the adjacent residential neighborhood, the building is nestled behind a line of pine trees with a cantilevered porch roof extending just beyond the pines. With pavilion as precedent, the roof is accentuated in the form of a kite inspired by the social history of the site; fondly known as “Kite Hill”. The north façade - the public face of the building,is a solid “garden wall” with punched openings at offices. The private south façade provides a sense of immersion in the landscape, dematerializing from stone to glass to provide views of an existing stand of pine trees.
Pac-Clad Petersen details the installation of their Snap-Clad Panels in lengths of up to sixty feet on the roof of Homewood Board of Education. The roof resembles a kite after the site it sits on, "kite hill."
The new home for the Homewood Board of Education Central Office in Alabama is a 14,500 sq. ft. modern structure which represents the first phase of a long-term plan to develop a 24 acre site in a suburb of Birmingham.
The contemporary structure was designed by Williams Blackstock Architects, Birmingham. “The roof design was inspired by the site it sits on which was known as Kite Hill,” said architect Kyle Kirkwood. “It’s a spot where kids and parents came to fly kites. The roof, which slopes in two different directions, is representative of the popular site.”
WBA took home awards for both Shaeffer Eye Center and the Radella Residence at the biennial IDIE Awards at the newly renovated Florentine Building.
As a provider of advanced eye care in the State of Alabama, the new flagship Schaeffer Eye Center in Hoover tangibly translates the pillars of the Schaeffer Eye Center Experience – science, style and service – through its crisp, forward-thinking interior design. Originally the home of a furniture showroom, the new clinic was transformed through a complete gutting of the 10,000-square-foot first floor.
A tree-lined sandy pathway along Rose Walk leads to this beachside home in Seaside, Florida, a community renowned for its innovative and elegant approach to capturing the character of traditional beachside towns. This 1,962-square-foot house is situated between the pedestrian-only Rose Walk path and Robert’s Way. The importance of this pedestrian path on one side, along with the desire for vehicular access on the other side, drove the design to essentially have two fronts, with two entry porches and two front doors.
WBA has a studio recycling program for paper/cardboard, aluminum and plastic. Last year we recycled and estimated:
30,906 lbs. of paper
89 lbs. of aluminum cans
68 lbs of plastic bottles
31,063 lbs of recycled materials
We were thrilled to receive a merit award for our work on Taylor + Maree Construction offices.
The design of Taylor + Miree Construction’s new office fits into the fabric of the small town community in a sensitive manner that highlights the skill and craftsmanship of the construction company. The project scope was to design a 5,385-square-foot building in a zero lot line within a “main street” setting to reinforce the scale and quality of the community and streetscape.
The exterior is designed with a finely articulated limestone and brick façade with a slate roof that respond to details found on neighboring buildings. Large picture windows reach out to the community to outwardly convey the culture of the company as well as to display their work and activity inside. The gabled structure at the front lobby and conference space creates a dramatic sense of arrival through the use of exposed steel trusses and wood decking.
The interior design is punctuated with recycled wood throughout to provide a warm interior space and promote the sustainable design approach. The central community work space opens on axis to an outdoor deck for dining and gathering. The grade drops from the front of the building, allowing a covered parking garage to be tucked up under the building and the entire footprint of the site to be fully utilized for office space above.
WBA was honored to be chosen for an outstanding design award from American School & University.
The North Engineering Research Center is the fourth and final piece of the University of Alabama Science and Engineering Complex providing approximately 207,000 net square feet of research and instructional laboratories, research support amenities, faculty offices, graduate student workstations, conference and meeting facilities, and collaboration spaces over three floors and a basement. The design was focused on accommodating facilities for the “clean” engineering disciplines, with over 51 separate research laboratories in support of the faculty working in five areas of ongoing materials research. The complex system of supportive mechanical systems had to be housed within the framework of a strict classical architectural context, presenting a unique marriage of timelessness and cutting edge research. A key goal of this project was to create flexible research environments, including labs and core lab areas, which can grow and change easily over time. Another key objective was to create a facility that will excite and attract both faculty and students to the University – and in particular to the Engineering disciplines. In addition to providing modern, state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities, the design strives to leverage technology and transparency to enable building occupants and visitors the opportunity to view, and gain a better understanding of the exciting research and instrumentation being utilized and developed in the building. Filled with natural light, the atrium connects the two story lobbies at the south entrance from the Commons and the entrance lobby from north campus, while also vertically connecting all three floors and the basement. The lobby detailing is consistent with the exterior to unify the style of the complex.
