Robins & Morton breaks ground on Sumner Regional Medical Center

Birmingham-based Robins & Morton recently broke ground on a $56 million addition and renovation project at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, Tenn.

The project consists of 198,000 sq ft of additions and 22,000 sq ft of renovation work.

Brasfield & Gorrie awarded LEED certification

Brasfield & Gorrie LLC of Birmingham, Ala., was awarded with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified rating for its office building, located at 3021 7th Avenue South in Birmingham, Ala.

The certification, the first to be awarded inside city limits, was achieved under the “New Construction” category and was awarded for an addition to their existing office building. LEED Certified projects blend environmental, economic and occupant-oriented performance and the certification is awarded based on Sustainable Sites, Energy and Atmosphere, Water Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality, Materials and Resources. 

Brasfield & Gorrie’s office building addition, completed in 2005, created another 45,000 sq ft of office space, which includes 100 offices and a new fitness center area for employees. Many elements were incorporated into the building to achieve the LEED status, from water and energy efficiency, to maximized usage of recycled materials, to day lighting. 

The architect on the project, Robert Thompson Architects, designed the building to ensure LEED criteria were met and enough points were gained to achieve a “LEED Certified” rating. Other items like erosion and sedimentation control during the construction process, limiting the use of potable water for landscape irrigation, and using highly reflective and high emissive roofing also played a part. 

Robins & Morton opens new division office in Huntsville

Bill Morton, president and CEO of Birmingham-based construction firm Robins & Morton, says opening a full-scale Huntsville Division office was a logical next step since the company has been building in the area for almost 20 years.

Over the years the company has completed numerous projects at Huntsville Hospital totaling more than 1.2 million sq ft, including Franklin Medical Tower, Women’s and Children’s Hospital renovations, a visitor parking deck and Madison Street Bed Tower. Projects currently underway include the Governor’s Medical Tower and additions and renovations to the Emergency Department.

Other notable projects completed by Robins & Morton in the Huntsville area include Clearview Cancer Institute, Redstone Federal Credit Union branches, additions and renovations at Alabama A&M University, a new business school at Oakwood College and a new facility for SPARTA.

Richard Anderson Jr., division manager, is a 16-year Robins & Morton veteran and will manage the office. He has been responsible for most of the Huntsville-area construction projects during the past seven years.

The new Huntsville Division opened in June and is located at 4900 University Square.

Saturn V Center captures worldwide attention

Gresham, Smith and Partners has designed the new $22 million, 70,000-sq-ft Davidson Saturn V Center at the U. S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. The center’s design will be receiving worldwide attention in the months leading up to its grand opening on Jan. 31, 2008, which also marks the 50th anniversary of America in space.

The Saturn V Center now serves as the new front entrance to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and houses the historical Saturn V rocket. GS&P designed the facility to showcase the Saturn V rocket, which is owned by the Smithsonian Museum.

The rocket is displayed in stages - sometimes even suspended from the roof - allowing visitors to walk both around and under the rocket.

Design features enable visitors to actually feel like they are traveling through space while receiving a history lesson about man’s journey to the moon and the Saturn V rocket. Visitors first enter a lobby where ticketing, bathrooms, a gift shop and more are located.

Thus, when they enter the next site, a vast 350-seat auditorium, visitors feel as though they have entered the unconfined domain of space. Geometric architecture is used throughout the center to represent gravitational pull and space travel.

The facility’s layout allows visitors to travel in continuous motion. Like going to the moon, there’s no turning back. Visitors’ descent back to the first floor is via a graceful, spiral staircase, which represents the experience of reentering the Earth’s trajectory.

A future tramway will link the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, the Botanical gardens and other Huntsville attractions.

Hoar begins renovation of Gadsden Medical Center

Hoar Construction LLC of Birmingham, Ala., recently started a major renovation and addition project at Gadsden Regional Medical Center in Gadsden, Ala., to add more than 60,000 sq ft of clinical space and renovate the Surgical Services Department. 

The entrance to the hospital is being relocated to make room for a new four-story tower addition.The new entrance will include a new drive-up area and a lobby with an ICU waiting area on the first floor. 

The second floor will contain new diagnostic equipment and two cardiac catheterization suites and will feature a new patient focused design and flow. The third floor will be shelled in for future expansion and the fourth floor will house the new 16 bed Surgical ICU. The project will also include the addition of a chiller, a cooling tower and an emergency generator. 

Once the new expansion is completed, Hoar Construction will renovate a portion of the hospital to expand its existing 13 OR Suites, a PACU Unit, a pre-op area, a staff lounge and upgrade other mechanical systems.  The project is scheduled for completion in spring 2009.

Superior Mechanical lands Bevill project

Superior Mechanical Inc. has been awarded the plumbing contract for the 60,000-sq-ft Mathematics and Science Building for Bevill State Community College. The building is the newest addition to the school’s Jasper Campus and is scheduled for completion in summer 2008. 

Stone Building Co. is the general contractor and PH&J Architects is designing the facility.

Superior’s responsibilities include the underground utilities, sanitary waste and vent service, domestic water service, natural gas service, acid waste piping and storm sewer service. Company officials estimate the value of the work at more than $1 million.

Rodney King will serve as Superior’s project manager with Chad Donaldson providing leadership at the field level.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Superior Mechanical is a 25-year-old commercial plumbing contractor with an emphasis on large, complicated construction projects requiring scale and expertise.