Owner: Church of the Highlands

Location: Woodlawn Neighborhood, Birmingham, AL

Project Size: 6,500 SF

Awards: AIA Alabama 2021 Merit Award

Christ Health Center’s Live Oaks Clinic is a faith-based counseling & mental health clinic and community pharmacy serving the needs of low-income & indigent patients in the surrounding neighborhoods. Our charge was to provide an intentional, beautiful, and functional space, with the budgetary restraints of a non-profit client. This important work supports Christ Health Center in expanding access to affordable, mental and behavioral health care for adults and children in the Woodlawn community. Alabama is ranked 48 out of 50 in access to mental health care within the United States. This project aims to narrow that gap—seeking to help to bring Dignity, Hope, and Care to this under-served community, driven by Christ Health Center’s vision.

“We exist to see the sick made well, and the well made whole.”

Woodlawn is a historic neighborhood located just east of Downtown Birmingham. It runs along the rail line that once brought post-war growth and flourishing to the community. In the 1960s and 70s, Woodlawn began experiencing a downturn as social and racial tensions grew, people left for the suburbs, and economic development and opportunities withered. With the construction of Interstates 20 & 59, the community was further separated and patterns of neglect festered. Nevertheless, the community is passionately prideful and hopeful for its future and this space seeks to help foster opportunity and hope for residents of Woodlawn for generations to come.

The 6,500 square foot space is impressively simple: a pre-fab metal skeleton with thoughtful cladding and a few economical gestures. The building includes 10 exam rooms, two lobbies, therapy and meeting rooms, and provider collaboration areas. This allows for integrated care across the two facilities, and therefore better overall patient health and wellness. It is sited at the convergence of prominent thoroughfares through Woodlawn and is directly adjacent to the Christ Health Center’s existing primary care clinic.

Pedestrian access was prioritized above vehicular access, as many of the patients of this clinic arrive on foot. The highly visible, cantilevered roof accentuates the building entry points—located so that they intercept the flow of foot traffic along 1st Avenue South and 59th Street. The prominent roof plane partially extends over the community-use plaza, which can be used to host neighborhood activities and gatherings.