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KPS GROUP BRINGS HOME TWO NEW HONORS FOR UAB MEDICAL WEST HOSPITAL

Celebrates Big Wins at the American Society for Healthcare Engineering 2026 Vista Awards

Birmingham, AL | March 17, 2026 – KPS Group, Inc. is pleased to announce two award wins for its work on UAB Medical West Hospital at the 2026 Vista Awards, presented by the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) during ASHE’s annual PDC Summit in Houston, which gathers and celebrates industry leaders in health care planning, design and construction.

The UAB Medical West Hospital project in Bessemer was the focus of both awards. The project replaced a 1960s-era hospital with a modern, patient-centered facility designed to meet the unique and diverse needs of a rapidly growing rural area. The challenge was creating a warm, inviting, and technologically sophisticated environment within a tight budget, while enabling innovative models of healthcare delivery. Flexibility and ease of access were key to the design; the final layout features clustered imaging, rehab and specialty clinics to move patients smoothly between care areas, while universal exam, patient, operating and imaging rooms enable spaces to adapt between service lines.

For its work on this project, KPS Group is the recipient of the 2026 ASHE Vista award and the Healthcare Environment Award in collaboration with HKS, Inc. The ASHE Vista award recognizes extraordinary teamwork and innovation in healthcare design and construction, while the Healthcare Environment Award recognizes how design can improve safety, enhance patient experience, increase organizational efficiency and improve outcomes.

“This recognition from ASHE reflects the strength of the partnership and the shared vision that brought this project to life in a way that delivers quality care with the Southern hospitality that we’re known for, resulting in an enhanced experience for patients and caregivers alike,” said Topper Parham, AIA, Director of Healthcare, Senior Vice President, at KPS Group.

The awards highlight the collaborative effort behind the 415,000 square-foot, 200-bed hospital and adjacent 128,000 square-foot medical office building. With its thoughtful design and strategic planning, UAB Medical West Hospital will meet the evolving healthcare needs of the region for years to come.

KPS GROUP TAKES HOME TWO TOP AWARDS AT 2025 IDIE AWARDS

IIDA Alabama’s 16th Biennial IDIE Awards honor excellence in interior design across state

Birmingham, AL | April 28, 2025 – KPS Group, Inc. is pleased to announce it is the recipient of both the Healthcare (Large) award and the Hospitality / Multi-Family award at the 2025 IDIE Awards presented by The International Interior Design Association – Alabama Chapter (IIDA-AL). The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Alabama Chapter proudly celebrated the outstanding achievements of the state’s design community at the Sixteenth Biennial IDIE Awards Gala & Design Competition at Regions Field in Birmingham on April 11, 2025.

KPS Group submitted its UAB Medical West Hospital project for consideration in the Healthcare category. This ambitious project was completed in conjunction with HKS, Inc., and replaces a 1960s-era hospital with a modern, patient-centered facility designed to serve rural communities. This project aimed to create a warm, inviting, and technologically sophisticated environment within a tight budget, while enabling innovative models of healthcare delivery. The 415,500 square-foot, 200-bed hospital and adjacent 128,000 square-foot medical o-ice building achieves this through hospitality-inspired interior design. The lobby evokes a welcoming “front porch” atmosphere, with serene views of 125-foot pines and natural wetlands. Warm wood tones and stonework complement the surrounding landscape. Each floor features curated native botanical artwork, accompanied by a distinct color palette.

“Receiving the 2025 IIDA Alabama IDIE award for Best Healthcare (Large) project for UAB Medical West is a tremendous honor for KPS Group. This facility embodies our commitment to designing spaces that not only meet the advanced healthcare needs of rural communities but also nurture well-being through thoughtful, patient-centered design. The integration of a contemporary Southern aesthetic, biophilic elements inspired by Alabama’s native flora, and a deep focus on wellness creates a truly healing and welcoming environment,” said Topper Parham, Director of Healthcare for KPS Group

KPS Group also submitted its Sheraton Birmingham Lobby Renovation project for considerations in the Hospitality / Multi-Family category. Birmingham’s vibrant downtown called for a modernized guest experience in the Sheraton Hotel’s lobby and surrounding areas. This ambitious renovation revitalized the space, infusing it with contemporary elegance and enhanced functionality. A sophisticated new bar, inviting lounge areas, upgraded lighting, and flexible conference studios now seamlessly blend work and leisure. The result is a captivating space reflecting the Sheraton brand’s commitment to sophistication and solidifying the hotel’s position as a premier downtown destination.

“It’s an honor to receive the 2025 IIDA Alabama IDIE award for the Sheraton Birmingham Lobby Renovation. Our design aimed to breathe new life into this downtown landmark by embracing Birmingham’s industrial aesthetic. Through thoughtful material choices, strategic lighting, and the creation of distinct functional areas, we’ve crafted a lobby that is both sophisticated and reflective of the city’s evolving identity,” said Donna Dowling, Director of Interiors with KPS Group.

The 2025 IDIE Awards brought together professionals from across Alabama to honor excellence in interior design, recognizing both design firms and furniture dealers for their creative, innovative, and impactful projects. The evening was filled with celebration, inspiration, and a shared passion for advancing the profession.

Out of 86 submissions from 26 firms and dealers, a jury of esteemed design professionals from across the country selected winners in a range of categories. Each winning project demonstrated a high level of creativity, functionality, and design excellence. The event culminated in the announcement of the prestigious “Best of Show” award, presented to the firm or dealer whose project received the highest overall score from the jury.

“The 2025 IDIEs have honored outstanding Registered Interior Designers in Alabama, recognizing their creativity, dedication, and passion,” said Jessica Babler, IIDA Alabama President. “This year’s winners have set new benchmarks for design excellence, shaping inspiring spaces and advancing the industry. At IIDA Alabama, we are proud to celebrate their achievements and the impact they have on the future of interior design.”

IIDA-AL is the state’s association for the commercial interior design industry, providing resources to professionals and students in the industry and their clients to advance the profession and enhance business value. The chapter has City Centers located in Birmingham and Huntsville, as well as Campus Centers at Auburn University, Samford University and the University of Alabama. Members enjoy a variety of professional development programs and networking events throughout the year to support culture, enhance business value, solve problems and bring awareness to the field of commercial interior design.

For more information about IIDA-AL, visit https://www.iida-al.org/

St. Mary’s-on-the-Highlands received a Merit Award from the American Institute of Architects | Alabama

KPS Group’s design for additions and renovations at St. Mary’s-on-the-Highlands Episcopal Church was presented with a Merit Award from the Alabama Council of the American Institute of Architects at the 2022 Excellence in Design Awards Gala held on Saturday, October 22nd during its annual Conference on Architecture.  

St. Mary’s-on-the-Highlands is the oldest church in Birmingham’s Five Points South Historic District and one of the city’s best examples of English Revival ecclesiastical architecture.  Beloved by parishioners, the original 1892 English Gothic church campus was expanded to include Drennen House – a stone parlor building – and a former YMCA building converted to educational space in 1974.  As is common with many older parishes, St. Mary’s was faced with obsolete systems and deteriorating physical facilities.  Compounding this were core issues of connectivity between essential levels and spaces on the steeply sloping site, as well as access from the surrounding narrow residential streets. 

Church stakeholders were carefully guided through a master planning process designed to elicit an understanding of aesthetic desires and program priorities as well as perceived issues and the facility wish list.  After optional solutions were developed, the Church decided what they wanted to accomplish and KPS worked with a general contractor to determine costs.  The scope of improvements was finalized after a process of “right-sizing” to align vision and desired budget.  KPS helped the Church communicate the project vision to the parish, providing images of design solutions to be used for fundraising. 

The design team conducted a master planning process to determine specific needs and studied a variety of options to solve the Church’s core issues.

Connectivity and character were the two key concerns for this renovation and addition:  connecting worship to Sunday school; forging connection with a new generation of young families with safe, relevant spaces to worship, learn, and celebrate; and maintaining connection with aging congregants by improving access to the beautiful Gothic building.  Just as important was assuring the historic character of the iconic original sanctuary was replicated in new and renovated structures.  The topography of the steeply sloping urban campus created multiple issues. Relying on street parking in a busy residential neighborhood, the campus lacked safe, convenient street access. Primarily outdoors, circulation was challenging. Essential levels and spaces lacked connection. Deteriorating facilities and systems needed rehabilitation, and the Church wanted a large, column-free parish hall.

Solutions prioritized renovation of existing space over demolition. New buildings are clad in the style of the old church, adding functionality while connecting with the past.  A new parish hall steps back to avoid traffic and defer to Drennen House and provides a safe, covered campus entry.  A new accessible circulation system connects new spaces to the existing sanctuary. Education and administrative spaces have been reprogrammed and modernized.

Forging Connections

Programmatic functions housed by the various additions precluded logical adjacencies and resulted in inefficient use of space, forcing parishioners to go in and out of buildings rather than flowing through them to transition between worship, fellowship, and educational functions.  Further, many of the floor levels of the previous additions did not align.  This limited use and created a particular hardship for elderly and disabled parishioners.

The team worked closely with the Church’s building committee to develop the solution:  a glass second-story connector perched atop an existing stone arcade and positioned to connect the sanctuary with the parlor, Christian education building, and new parish hall.  The connector incorporates a new central elevator that provides an accessible route to all levels of the church, using “half stops” to interconnect with various levels and resolve accessibility issues.  The connector’s scale and proximity to worship and education spaces fosters gathering and fellowship.  Below the new connector, the existing stone loggia was partially dismantled and reassembled with a new floor plate to finally connect the existing sanctuary and Drennen House.  Improved circulation from the stone loggia leads visitors through the new memorial gardens to the expanded columbarium.  A metal sculpted angel watches over those who enter the garden walk and into different functions of the church complex.

The New Randolph Memorial Hall

The new Randolph Memorial Hall features a warm stone and slate exterior and large metal frame windows that bathe the parish hall in natural light while capturing views of Red Mountain.  Elevated above an abandoned alley easement, it provides this urban church with a motor court, porte-cochere, and entrance that connects to all levels of the facility.  The parish hall fulfills two key needs:   a large, column-free banquet facility and safe, convenient access from the surrounding streets.  Stepping back to avoid traffic in this busy neighborhood, it defers to the existing Drennen House.  Elevating the parish hall above the former alley created the opportunity for both vehicular access and a covered drop-off below to serve as the primary accessible church entrance.  In addition to sheltered pedestrian and vehicular circulation for church functions, the motor court is used for outdoor worship services and neighborhood engagement.  Clad in the style of the old church, the building brings new functionality while providing a link to the past. 

The Randolph Memorial Hall also provides St. Mary’s-on-the-Highlands with an expansive, high quality space for church events, weddings, and other large gatherings.  Supported by a new commercial kitchen, its large banquet space draws inspiration from the design of the historic sanctuary.

Contact

Donald Simpson, AIA | dsimpson@kpsgroup.com

Led by Huntsville office director, Kristine Harding FAIA, the KPS team is working closely with Redstone Federal Credit Union to expand their presence across the Tennessee Valley.  Three projects are currently underway – new freestanding combination branch and office buildings in Murfreesboro TN and Huntsville AL, and a new drive-thru Teller Station on North Parkway in Huntsville. The Credit Union, named one of the “best banks” in the country by Money Magazine in 2018 and 2019’s recipient of NAFCU’s Credit Union of the Year award, envisioned modern buildings evocative of their forward-thinking approach. 

Drone fly-overs of the downtown Huntsville site helps RFCU stakeholders understand what the project will look like in context when completed.

KPS designers routinely translate design concepts and plans into 3-dimensional renderings that help owners make informed decisions about design.  Using an array of sophisticated graphics programs, the design team showed RFCU decision-makers progressively more realistic depictions of what their buildings would look like as the designs evolved.  Beginning with simple 2-dimensional sketches and massing models, the team provided RFCU with highly detailed 3-D renderings and drone fly-overs that have allowed them to compare design options and fully understand what their buildings will look like from all angles when completed, down to the smallest detail.

Downtown Huntsville Branch Complex

Slated for completion in 2020, Redstone Federal Credit Union’s new downtown Huntsville branch and office building at 200 Davis Circle will appear to glow as motorists travel into the city from the interstate. Close up, the building’s design of glass and metal panels will be even more impressive, with a fresh and cutting edge look.  The 66,718sf building will span five floors and include a ground floor Retail Branch as well as a Community Room and Rooftop Terrace.

Huntsville Drive-Thru Teller Station

This modern, drive-thru Teller Station will stand out for its design, convenience, and functionality. Featuring video teller services as well as general ATM functions, it is slated to open early in 2019.

Flagship Tennessee Branch Office

Currently under construction, the new flagship Tennessee branch office on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro is anticipated to open in the fall of 2019. The 28,000sf complex will incorporate a retail branch, administrative office space, and a call center, with a Community Room and Terrace on the top floor.

Contact

Kristine Harding, FAIA | kharding@kpsgroup.com

Kristine Harding is among those architects named to the AIA College of Fellows in 2018, an honor awarded to AIA members who have made significant contributions to the profession of architecture. A principal at KPS Group, Kristine leads the firm’s Huntsville office and serves on the Board of Directors.  Her clients include the Huntsville International Airport, Boeing, Redstone Federal Credit Union, Oakwood University, the City of Scottsboro, Commercial Office Properties Trust (COPT), and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  In addition to her demanding role at KPS, she has held numerous leadership positions in professional and civic organizations, and was named to the Alabama General Contractors Hall of Fame in 2017.

KPS now counts two Fellows among its leadership – unusual for any firm, but particularly so for a firm of our size.

Only some 3% of AIA members have achieved the distinction of Fellowship, 41 of them in Alabama, since the inception of the College of Fellows in the 1920s. Kristine Harding is the third woman architect in Alabama to be elevated to AIA Fellowship, and the first Alabama architect to be named to the College of Fellows since 2014.  A trailblazing architect whose focus over the past 13 years has been to bring the architectural licensure process into alignment with the technical and practical aspects of the 21^st century, Kristine is passionate about our profession’s need to embrace the real world demands faced by its diverse population of young professionals.  Her achievements in facilitating architectural licensure through leadership roles in both the AIA and the National Council of Architectural Review Boards (NCARB) have redefined the profession’s approach to ensuring the resiliency of practice and helped to forge alliances between the two organizations.

Kristine served as the FY 2016-17 President of NCARB, is a past president of both the Alabama Council AIA and the North Alabama Chapter AIA, and was Chair of the State of Alabama Board for Registration of Architects from 2005 to 2007. She has received the AIA Alabama Council’s Accolade – one of its highest honors – as well as multiple certificates of appreciation from Alabama’s highest officials including Governor Kay Ivey.  A participant in Leadership Alabama Class 16 and Huntsville-Madison County Leadership Class 14, Kristine has been active in many civic organizations including the Huntsville Sports Commission and the Madison County Marina & Port Authority.

Contact

Kristine Harding, FAIA | kharding@kpsgroup.com

Two years of research, study, consultation, planning, and prayer are soon to be realized in a major renovation and addition project on the campus of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham. The culmination of the congregation’s One in the Spirit campaign will renovate, repair, and revitalize the Church facilities with necessary upgrades and additions to ensure that it meets the needs of all its members and address the challenge of the 21st century to support the needs of its evolving community and accommodate future growth.

We specialize in helping mature parishes solve the challenges of outdated facilities and growing congregations.

KPS has helped many mature churches solve the challenges of growing congregations and inadequate or outdated facilities. We have been honored and blessed to work with St. Luke’s for many years on a variety of projects, including their last major building program in 1994. This effort began with a Masterplan and Program to identify needed upgrades and to help the Church determine the most effective and cost efficient ways they could use their existing facilities and augment them with new ones to achieve the goals of their ministry and outreach. With this information in hand, the design team developed sketches and renderings to help the congregants visualize the design and support the One in the Spirit fundraising campaign.

A variety of exterior and interior renovations will replace dated infrastructure and re-work the floor plan to be more effective. In addition to renovating the existing educational facilities, the major architectural program elements include an expansion of the Parish House will provide new space for the Youth Ministry and Day School as well as a welcoming new entry and gathering space. A covered walkway from the Parish House leads to a separate 50’x80’ outdoor open-air pavilion for fellowship, concerts, recreation, and child play.

Contact

Gray Plosser, FAIA | gplosser@kpsgroup.com