A New Stage for the Magic City

Coca-Cola Amphitheater | Birmingham, Alabama

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The new Coca-Cola Amphitheater is officially open in Birmingham's Uptown District, transforming the former Carraway Hospital into a modern, open-air performance venue. With seating for more than 8,500 guests, the space is designed to host large-scale events while anchoring the city's continued redevelopment north of downtown.

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Engineering in the Spotlight

MBA Engineers provided full structural design and construction-phase support for the project. Our scope included:

+ Steel framed stage house

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+ Load-bearing masonry and steel joist outbuildings

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+Tiered seating bowl with slab-on-grade and steel raker framing

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+ Earth retaining perimeter structures

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+ Spread footing foundation system

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Our team worked through several design adjustments, including rigging beam modifications, fall protection coordination, and layout changes to support back-of-house access and staging equipment.

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Built to Last

Designed in collaboration with Generator Studio and Live Nation, the venue reflects a modern approach to performance space design - prioritizing durability, flexibility, and user experience. We're proud to have helped deliver a structural system that supports the city's growing cultural footprint.

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From Our Team

"This is one of the more technically challenging projects I have worked on, making it the most rewarding. The complex seating bowl, architectural features, and intricate loading of the stage house created an engineering problem that tested our team's creativity, and ability to collaborate with other disciplines. Visiting the completed amphitheater and seeing firsthand the positive impact on our city makes me incredibly proud." -- Justin Ahalt P.E., Project Manager

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