The University of Alabama’s Bryce Main project was featured in the latest issue of retrofit magazine. Principal Architect Eric Berg described the design process in detail from beginning to end and shared what’s next for the historic landmark.

University of Alabama Prospective Students Are Greeted by a 21st Century Experience in a Refurbished 19th Century Building

Bryce Main, formerly the Alabama State Hospital for the Insane, was constructed in the 1850s in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was in extreme disrepair when The University of Alabama acquired the property in 2010. In 2015, the university decided to adaptively reuse the deteriorating building, bringing it back to its original glory.

The program required complete renovation of the 130,000-square-foot facility to create a new welcome center for student admissions; Theatre and Dance department offices, classrooms and rehearsal spaces; and a mental health museum honoring the building’s past.

As part of the master plan, a new Performing Arts Academic Center currently is being connected to Bryce Main. The performing-arts center will create a new focal point for the campus and a beacon for the surrounding community.

 

 

Extensive renovations were required to bring the aging building back to life, including the demolition/reconstruction of the east wing, which was no longer structurally sound. The entire building envelope also was updated, including new exterior coatings, windows and roofing.

Extensive field measurements, investigations and studies were completed as part of the process to ensure historically significant elements were maintained throughout the project. These studies included the replication of the cupolas, eave brackets, windows and surrounding details, as well as refurbishment of the small rotunda dome and large central dome.

Master Planning

The Kirkbride System, which in 1851 had been adopted as the official and accepted standard of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, was selected by the trustees of the new hospital and was implemented in the planning by architect Samuel Sloan.

Both an administrative and architectural design, the Kirkbride System drew heavily from the 1788 plan of the French Academy of Science’s “Pavilion-plus-link”, which Sloan adopted and called the linear plan. Each hospital corridor was terminated with large triple windows, providing daylight into the building center. The new spaces were configured to maintain the original design intent, keeping the ends of the corridors open to flood the interior with daylight.

 

 

The 4-story Central Pavilion, largely influenced by the Italianate style, was utilized as the administrative center of the hospital. It now hosts the welcome center and will act as the anchor to the Performing Arts Academic Center. Great care was taken to delicately separate the Bryce Main facility from the new building with the use of courtyards and limited touchpoints. The Theatre and Dance department occupies the second and third floors of Bryce Main and will connect to the new Performing Arts Academic Center via enclosed bridges on the second floor and open-air walks on the main level.

Patrons will have access to the main levels of the Bryce Main Central Pavilion during theater performances and can visit the mental health museum on the second floor and other gathering spaces that are incorporated into the overall facility master plan.

Stepping into the Future, Honoring the Past

The Central Pavilion’s existing front porch had replaced the original cast iron portico in 1883 to create a monumental entrance to the administrative portion of the building. During the recent renovations, the entire porch was removed and reconstructed to replicate the 1883 design. To meet modern codes, the balusters were lengthened using similar proportions to the original balusters. The new structure was designed to allow for proper water drainage, and new Ipe wood flooring was added to provide a long-lasting material. Ceilings of the porches were painted haint blue in keeping with Southern tradition. The original wall sconces at the front door were refurbished and re-installed while the adjacent entrances received replicas.

 

 

The original cast iron stair, located immediately upon entering the front door, was purchased as a kit of parts out of the Sears Roebuck catalog and assembled onsite. To create a more welcoming entrance, the team decided to move the stair back behind the main cross-aisle of the Central Pavilion. Because the stair was in disrepair and did not meet current codes at the upper level, a new curb was constructed to achieve the minimum height required at the guardrail without altering the balusters. New stair members were cast to replace missing or damaged parts.

The stair now leads visitors up to the mental health museum and the second floor of the future Performing Arts Academic Center.

Exterior Upgrades with Modern Durability

As a result of the building’s disrepair, two of the remaining four wings were demolished and rebuilt to precise measurements to ensure new construction matched the original design. Existing brick was salvaged for reuse and existing wood framing was milled to be used for finished wood flooring on the second-floor mental health museum and second-floor central corridor. Salvaged brick and milled flooring also were installed as finished surfaces in the rotating art gallery, which is located on the first floor of the Central Pavilion.

The design team, including the university’s partners, worked tirelessly to determine the best materials and systems to achieve the desired architectural details of the Italianate-style building and meet current code requirements.

Extensive studies were completed to determine the best material to use for the exterior skin over the existing masonry load-bearing walls. Furthermore, window detailing was paramount because of the large number of windows that covered the exterior walls. Custom panning profiles were created to match the existing profiles, and muntins were designed to replicate the original window patterns.

 

Construction Image by Eric Berg

 

The iconic dome atop the Central Pavilion was in complete disrepair. It suffered water infiltration, rusting metal, peeling paint and deteriorating wood. Exhaustive studies were conducted to determine the best path forward to bring the distinctive feature back to life.

The dome’s crown had significant dry rot and required total replacement. The old crown was removed and sent to the fabricator so an exact replica could be fabricated. All the wood cladding was stripped and replaced with new materials to replicate the original design. Paint was stripped down to bare metal; rusted metal was repaired; and the entire surface was recoated with a high-performance paint.

Extensive light studies were conducted to uplight the dome through discreet placement of fixtures without impacting the visual appearance of the dome.

Roll Tide!

Today, prospective students and their families are greeted at the Welcome Center where they can engage with the interactive displays to gain better knowledge of what attending the University of Alabama means and how it can positively impact their futures. Students can enjoy the space at their own pace and learn about the experiences that await them once they join the student population on campus.

 

 

The most significant element within the space is the new Roll Tide Room, where visitors are fully immersed by rolling screens that make them feel part of the action as they “move around” campus to different events.

Visitors are then directed to the theater/auditorium to learn more about the university before going on a campus tour. After the tour, students return to Bryce Main where they meet one-on-one with the Admissions staff.

Bryce Main now is a welcoming front door to the campus and a tribute to the intentional blending of historic preservation, code and energy-efficiency upgrades, as well as modern and relevant programming.

Alabama Department of Mental Health Museum

The significance of Bryce Main’s original use as a mental health hospital was not lost on The University of Alabama’s leaders. There was a strong desire to honor patients (and their families) who passed through the doors and received treatment.

 

 

Today, a museum that allows visitors to explore and learn about the historical significance of the Alabama State Hospital for the Insane and what daily life was like within its walls was created on the second floor of the Central Pavilion. Many of the original artifacts found onsite, such as a fireplace mantel, grave markers, a site model created by a patient, metabulator, sewing machine, pews and a wheelchair, have been preserved within the exhibit, along with written and graphic explanations of life in the facility.
The hospital’s front door was recreated using the original transom window to give visitors the sense they are going back in time and experiencing the historic hospital.

PHOTOS: Chad Baumer unless otherwise noted

Retrofit Team

Architect and Interior Designer: TURNERBATSON
Structural Engineer: MBA Engineers Inc.
Mental Health Museum Design: Kelton Designs
Welcome Center Design: The Maude Group LLC
General Contractor: Harrison Construction
Roofing Contractor: Deason Inc.

Materials

Lobby Chandelier: Scalloped Tole Chandelier from Iatesta Studio
Decorative Pendants: Needles Hang from Urban Electric Co.
Dome Uplighting: Inter-lux
Carpet Tile: Interface
Epoxy Terrazzo Flooring: Key Resin Company
Wood Flooring: Existing Heart Pine
Paint: PPG Paints
Metal Roof: Tite-Loc Plus in Slate Gray from Petersen
Asphalt-shingle Roof: GAF
Exterior Skin over Existing Masonry Load-bearing Walls: DPR from Dryvit with Custom Texture
Replicated Windows: Marvin