Mobile, AL
CONTRACTOR: Meyer Najem
ARCHITECT: Hoefer Welker
DEVELOPER: US Federal Properties
Sain Associates provided civil design for the Mobile Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Clinic, which was developed on a 12-acre commercial lot. We partnered with Meyer Najem, U.S. Federal Properties, and Hoefer Wysocki Architects, now Hoefer Welker, on this pursuit. We also partnered with U.S. Federal Properties and Hoefer Welker on VA facilities in Birmingham, Alabama; Montgomery, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Jacksonville, Florida.
This facility was constructed as part of a larger development at the intersection of Rangeline Road and I-65. The nearly 65,000-square-foot clinic nearly doubles the size of the original facility. The services provided at the facility include outpatient surgery, clinical care, radiology, gastroenterology, orthopedic clinic, laboratory, pharmacy, dental care, women’s care, and more.
During construction, the project presented several challenges, such as an aggressive schedule for developing a site within a larger overall site that was also under construction. This meant that the adjoining sites, roadways, and utilities around the site were changing daily, and we had to coordinate our design plans with multiple other designs on three sides of the site. Frequent follow-ups with neighboring design teams were necessary to identify changes to design plans during construction. During this process, one neighbor moved their driveway connection to the site three times, requiring our design team and contractor to adjust. We had identified this as a potential change early in the design process. The contractor had delayed any work in this questionable area, so the multiple changes would not impact construction activities. In the end, delaying construction in this portion of the site saved potential change orders and re-work because we waited until the driveway location was finalized before we began construction.