LOCATION: A group of four 3-story masonry warehouses, c. 1842, in the New Orleans Business District. The buildings have 16-inch thick brick walls with a heavy granite Doric colonnade across the front on the first floor. Together they total 22,000 square feet of interior space with 1,600 square feet of open courtyards at the rear.

CHALLENGE: As with most of these warehouses, rather than modernize them after they became outdated, the owners decided to close them and wait for a lucrative offer for the site from the developer of a high-rise. Recent laws now prevent their demolition. They have been shuttered and neglected for decades. 

A group of investors has purchased the buildings with plans to renovate them to provide office space for small businesses that desire a more unique environment than high-rise buildings offer. Except for the badly damaged pine floors, these buildings are empty brick shells. All of the doors and most of the windows are missing.  

SOLUTION: The buildings need to be organized into a single entity and then have a method for subdivision into rental units that would give the individual businesses privacy and a means for future growth. One half of a single building floor offers a good size for a small business. By building hotel-style double door openings in the masonry walls across the floor plan of all four buildings, the spaces can be interconnected for growth.

In addition to the installation of full building services – plumbing, mechanical and electrical – a building core was introduced across the mid-point of the buildings to provide corridors, fire stairs, restrooms, mechanical and elevator services.

The ground floor is designed to accommodate commercial retail space, including a café adjacent to the courtyard.  New mahogany shop doors, in the traditional style, are installed in the granite colonnade. Entry to the upper floors is through a center bay with an information desk and seating. The ground floor and courtyards are paved in slate throughout.  A high brick wall encloses the rear courtyard. Along its full length, a fountain pool, with a planting trench behind, was built to allow vines to climb the wall, offering a pleasant backdrop to the outdoor café seating.

On the upper floors, the unfinished brick walls were repaired and cleaned. The pine floors have been painstakingly restored. Traditional paneled doors and double-hung windows, with restored millwork casings, were installed throughout. The 16-foot ceilings were dropped only 30 inches to accommodate services.  A plank-style, brick-red, lay-in ceiling tile was installed. The sheetrock corridors and ceilings were also painted brick red. The elevator cab was finished with mahogany paneling.

The overall effect is a comfortable, sophisticated business-like environment.