The Kirklin Clinic, named in honor of celebrated heart surgeon and academician, Dr. John Kirklin, is one of the top outpatient clinics in the United States. It serves a national and international clientele as the premier clinic in University of Alabama’s Health Services Foundation. This facility, designed in association with Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP and Garikes Wilson & Atkinson Inc., combined over 40 dispersed specialty clinics into one building. A signature work of architecture within University of Alabama’s Medical Center, Kirklin Clinic claims its unique status through bold siting, an impressive courtyard, a monumental entrance, and use of a high-relief granite exterior as counterpoint to the prevailing brick found throughout the rest of the campus.

TRO Jung|Brannen and the design team capitalized on Kirklin Clinic’s grandeur to promote hospitality imagery and amenities commensurate with contemporary hotels. The large fountain, dramatic entry, and full-height atrium all lend to the environment’s glamour. Beyond the grand entrance, the building offers a full complement of medical services and clinics, including ambulatory surgery, diagnostic services, rehabilitation medicine, cardiology and laboratories, nuclear medicine, MRI, radiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, pharmacy, administrative offices, as well as a 1,600-car parking deck. Circulation to treatment areas, organized as regular 25-room pods, is simplified by the central organizing element of the atrium/lobby. An alternative internal circulation system allows for efficient operations and flexibility of staff movement.