Housing the Future within the Past: The Transformation of University Hall at the University of Alabama

By Luke Carothers

As new technologies emerge and advance, schools and universities across the United States are looking to modernize their educational facilities to support things like e-learning as a way to provide world-class experiences for students.  By upgrading facilities with the latest technologies, universities are better equipped to provide educational opportunities for their current and prospective students.  A recent example of this took place at the University of Alabama with their new home for the College of Continuing Studies.  The facility is part of the rebuild of a hospital built in 1938, which was demolished down to the concrete structure and rebuilt.  

This two-year project resulted in a new video production facility equipped with state-of-the-art features–including two webcast studios–that support the University’s e-learning initiative.  The entire 100,000 square foot renovation project was focused on transforming the existing historic University Hall campus building into a new home for the College of Continuing Studies.  To complete this transformation, the University of Alabama partnered with Provost Studio to create a studio optimized for remote learning–one that would support multiple presentation configurations that could easily be operated by both skilled and beginner staff.

This cutting-edge studio would be housed in a structure built in 1938 that served as the Women’s Reception Building, meant to cater to patients at Bryce Hospital.  Peter Provost, President & Director of Design for Provost Studio, says that the structure “underwent a dramatic transformation” in bringing the University of Alabama’s e-learning program into the 21st century.  The first step in transforming the structure was tearing the existing University Hall down to its concrete framework.  Working from the original structure’s concrete framework, Provost Studios was able to create two cutting-edge webcast studios with each featuring an advanced control room.  With the structure completed, Provost says these two studios, “now serve as the cornerstone of the University’s ambitious virtual instruction endeavor.”

The project spanned over two years, in which time the University demonstrated their commitment to embracing modern education–setting an example for how other academic institutions can adapt to learning in the digital age.  Provost Studio collaborated with Williams Blackstock Architects and Bailey-Harris Construction, which were tasked to overhaul the 100,000-square foot hospital building–from mechanical, electrical, plumbing and life-safety systems to external enhancements that encompassed the replacement of the roof and windows to the restoration of the building’s iconic dome.  

During the two-year project timeline, the teams transforming the structure had to contend with a number of issues such as structural challenges from age and space constraints due to the project’s proximity to campus traffic.  One of the major challenges stemmed from the site’s adjacency to a main campus entry point, which introduced noise via the major pedestrian thoroughfare and a dumpster pickup spot.  To tackle this acoustic challenge, Provost and his team went on a walkthrough at the same time as the architecture and engineering team.  This collaborative walkthrough allowed all teams working on the project to understand the challenges they were facing from the start, which, according to Provost, “ensured that we were able to address issues early and provide solutions.”  This early collaboration proved fruitful, and the two hubs–the architecture and engineering base building team and the broadcast video production team–”communicated constantly to ensure everyone was on the same page.”  Ultimately, this level of coordination made the project team more nimble, enabling them to meet the University’s three ultimate requests: flexibility, versatility, and ease of set up.  The new facility needed a high level of flexibility to deliver various forms of content from spaces that can be transformed quickly and easily.

In the two years the project took–from concept to deliver–Provost says the process was highly collaborative, which allowed time to showcase the University commitment to embracing modern education modalities.  Moving forward, Provost believes this can be used by universities across the country to adapt to the new wave of learning in the digital age.  By working in close partnership with the architectural, engineering, and construction teams, Provost says they were able to ensure the provision of “optimal infrastructure” to accommodate the studio’s dynamic programming.  This collaborative work included regular meetings, numerous site visits, and providing user training when the studio was in rehearsals, ensuring that everything met client satisfaction.  Provost says, “from conceptual design and scope definition to finalizing the facility for use and post-production activities, we put careful consideration around the foundational building systems, including the HVAC, electrical layouts, and acoustics that were needed to support the new studios.”  Provost Studio also worked with Widmer Designs for lighting design, Innovative Environments for scene fabrication, and SH Acoustics to fine-tune the studio’s acoustic performance.

The new studios are designed with the intent of giving faculty a toolbox for innovation, and were designed to accommodate hybrid learning environments and make college programs easily accessible from home.  By equipping educators with advanced audio and video capabilities, they can develop a curriculum in a variety of formats including video conferencing, online video-streamed classes, and interactive study.  Provost says this system was created to be easily operated by skilled and beginner staff and comes equipped with movable scenery, roll-down graphic backdrops, and wall-mounted push-button stations that enable the operation of different lighting positions.  The flexibility of the spaces allows staff to adapt their content to different needs.  Provost points out that the multiple camera angles and configurations make it more akin to an engaging cooking show rather than classroom content.