Summary: AIA New Orleans announced the recipients of the 2008 Design Awards on March 6, naming 8 out of more than 70 entries to receive awards of honor and merit. This year’s awards theme of “Architecture Matters” reflects the chapter’s aim to continue raising awareness of the importance of our profession to the public and communities it serves. This year’s jury was composed of three internationally recognized architects hailing from Los Angeles: Sylvia Lavin, professor of architectural history and theory at UCLA; Eric Owen Moss, FAIA, Eric Owen Moss Architects; and Peter Zellner, Assoc. AIA, ZellnerPlus.

Honor Awards

Category: Master Planning and Urban Design
Project: Reinventing the Crescent
Location: New Orleans
Architect: Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
New Orleans has long been dependent on its majestic river. The banks of the Mississippi have served many purposes throughout the city’s rich history. This project proposes a plan to redevelop six miles along the river, from Jackson Ave. to the Holy Cross levee.

Category: Architecture
Project: The Rebuild Center
Location: New Orleans
Architect: Wayne Troyer Architecture
With an outreach objective to serve 250-300 people per day, this social service and recovery center was designed for the growing transient population of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Category: Residential Award
Project: Lowerline Street Residence
Location: New Orleans
Architect: Bild Design
Aiming at introducing a progressive, affordable housing type to an urban perimeter zone of New Orleans, this newly constructed, two-family prototype capitalizes on vertical development to gain living space and an extended view to the Mississippi River.

Category: Projects
Project: Make It Right Foundation
Location: New Orleans
Architect: Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
New Orleans’ current housing crisis has created the need for both cost-effective and sustainable living. With its low construction costs, this highly energy-efficient design plans to accommodate New Orleans’ low-income residents with affordable housing.

Merit Awards

Category: Historic Preservation/ Restoration/ Rehabilitation
Project: The Hammond Train Depot Restorations
Location: Hammond, La.
Architect: Holly and Smith Architects, APAC
On receiving a donation, the Hammond Chamber of Commerce commissioned the complete restoration of the historical train depot, built in 1912. The project entailed the restoration of the exterior façade and adaptive reuse of the interiors.

Category: Interior Architecture
Project: Gallery Bienvenu
Location: New Orleans
Architect: Ledbetter Fullerton Architects
This project aimed to renovate an outdated art gallery to better accommodate exhibits of large scale paintings and sculpture, along with a new demand for multimedia installations.

Category: Architecture
Project: L.I.T.E. (Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise)
Location: Lafayette, La.
Architect: Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
A cooperative endeavor between the Lafayette Economic Development Authority (LEDA) and the University of Louisiana Lafayette, the Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise resulted in this 62,000-square-foot technology center. This center will provide unprecedented research and development opportunities using computer visualization technologies for a wide range of potential clients.

Category: Projects
Project: NOLA Shotgun LOFThouse
Location: New Orleans
Architect: Wayne Troyer Architect
The NOLA Shotgun LOFThouse reinvents Louisiana’s time-proven typology with an affordable, sustainable, and innovative new prototype rooted on the landscape.