Modern was the common sleek thread woven throughout the selections for the commercial INDesign awards with a slew of winners each showing how forward-thinking design can impact more than what meets the eye.
From an innovative approach to reworking the timeless bones of an A. Hays Town building to one of only a few unique gridshell structures in the country, the 2016 INDesign winners showed whether you’re designing and building from scratch or renovating a decades-old structure, the commercial landscape of Lafayette can honor our roots and our future simultaneously.
In addition to the Lafayette Strong gridshell designed and built by UL professors and students, the university had two massive projects that garnered awards: the Student Union and the Athletics Performance Center. Each project showed how design could be the backdrop for Ragin’ Cajuns pride. Downtown continues to thrive with mixed-use spaces emerging from old buildings. And libraries topped the list of winners from Lafayette to Breaux Bridge.
Beth Miller, an interior designer and professor at Mississippi State University’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, returned for the 11th consecutive year to judge the interiors of the entries. Eddie Cazayoux, former director of UL Lafayette’s School of Architecture & Design and the winner of the UL College of the Arts’ SPARK Lifetime Achievement Award last year, led a team of local architects and professors who judged the architecture of the projects.
Join us April 6 at 11 a.m. at City Club for an awards ceremony that not only honors our winners but also looks to the future of infrastructure in Lafayette with a panel discussion of the I-49 corridor.
GOLD WINNERS
ARCHITECTURE
Lalande Group Architecture: Champagne’s Market
Architects Beazley Moliere: East Regional Library
Greg Walls Building + Design: The Lofts at 1019
Poche Prouet & Associates: Lafayette General Health
MBSB Group: Lafayette Parish Public Library
Building Institute: Lafayette Strong Pavilion
Hoffpauir Studio: St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church RenovationArchitects Southwest: UL Student Union
INTERIOR DESIGN
Architects Southwest: UL Athletics Performance Center
SILVER WINNERS
ARCHITECTURE
Architects Southwest: 221 Jefferson St. Renovation
NMF Architecture: Home Elements Design Studio Office Building
Lynn Guidry Architect: Carencro Veterans Memorial
Ackal Architects: Lafayette Fire Station No. 14
Angelle Architects: Newpark Project
BRONZE WINNERS
ARCHITECTURE
Barras Architects: Glenn Armentor Law Corp.
Angelle Architects: Breaux Bridge Library
GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Champagne’s Market
Lalande Group Architecture
Design Team: Mark Lalande, Kris Simon, Caleb Boulet and Jared Petitjean
Contractor: Techne Construction Services
MARKET MAKEOVER
When Champagne’s Market sought to add a specialty products section to its existing space in the Oil Center next to Lafayette General, it enlisted the services of the Lalande Group Architecture for the planning and execution of the design.
“The inspiration is derived from the owners’ desire to address trends in the grocery retail market that are significantly different than those of 12 years ago when they first occupied the space,” says architect Mark Lalande.
The program included more space for wine and cheese inventory, the expansion of its craft beer selections, the relocation and expansion of its customer service area, and additional space for the store’s floral and gift offerings.
The existing exterior of the building was painted to match the exterior paint applied to its neighbor, the Kitchenary, when it was renovated last year.
The interior design highlights the new areas with wall features that are very different than the existing spaces and are specifically configured to acknowledge the different product areas, which are now accentuated with modern lighting features.
“The style is that of a specialty boutique with many product centers that are unified by the use of a modern esthetic to identify different areas within the space with unique identity,” says Lalande. **— WN
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GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
East Regional Library
Architects Beazley Moliere
Design Team: Charles Beazley, Tommy Hughes and John Maak
Contractor: Ratcliff Construction
GLASS HOUSE
When Architects Beazley Moliere was tasked with constructing the Lafayette East Regional Library in the Southside Regional Park, they envisioned something like a pavilion in the park with plenty of glass from which visitors could look out into the vast lush greenery of the surrounding park.
However, they soon realized that the library would sit next to Fabacher Field and Les Vieux Chenes Golf Course so they had to be wary of too much glass on the west side of the building for fear of a stray ball damaging the façade.
“We were able to open up the reading rooms toward the road across the green area into the trees between the building and the road,” says Charles Beazley of Architects Beazley Moliere. “So it’s designed to be very open, very high, very light and very airy. There’s a lot of daylight going into the building.”
The library is also designed to accommodate the public for after-hours access through its main vestibule without giving full access to the library itself.
Built using a contemporary modern style, the new library also features patterning in the glass that can filter light in order to not only reduce some of the glare but also to take care of the heat load and yet still open it up quite a bit. It also utilizes several other energy-saving features, including a scalable chiller system that runs at a very low electrical consumption.
The front of the library is designed to invite visitors in with a large overhang and accompanying welcoming canopy that extends and reaches out in the front to allow people to take shelter from the weather before they come into the building.
“We think that all of our buildings should engage the public,” says Beazley. “So we were able to do that.” – WN
GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
The Lofts at 1019
Greg Walls Building + Design
Design Team: Greg Walls, Angelique Hernandez,
David Hamer and David Courville
Contractor: Greg Walls Building + Design
DOWNTOWN EVOLUTION
Contractor and intern architect Greg Walls takes what’s old and forgotten and makes it fresh and new. A decades-old building on Lee Avenue vacated for 20 years is now home to a mixed-use space for residents and businesses Downtown.
“I wanted to turn it into a functional urban space that has a mixed, multi-purpose use,” Walls says.
The first floor of 1019 Lofts is home to commercial space — Ceaux, a shared work space office. On the second story are two modern residential lofts.
Walls had a clear vision for the space, yet the execution of revamping an old building came with a set of challenges, including all new mechanical, plumbing and HVAC.
“Since the structure was existing, we had to design the lofts within the boundary of the shell of the building, which has a trapezoidal configuration,” he says.
That unusual structure, however, was just what made the completed project truly unique.
“Actually I loved the different angles of the existing structure, and that made for interesting spaces for the lofts,” he says.
While the aesthetic of the space is clearly modern, the principle of the mixed-use space is an old one that is being revived nationally.
“I think we are poised and are on the verge of creating more living spaces Downtown as there is a demand for downtown living. One tenant renting an upstairs loft also has his office on the first floor, so that makes for a pretty nice commute. I live in a work/live space, and I love that I can literally walk downstairs and I’m at work. This is the national trend, and I anticipate this will be the case in Lafayette as well.” — AJH
GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Lafayette General Health Offices
Poché Prouet Associates
Design Team: Tonia Matherne and Marie O. Lukaszeski
Contractor: Southwest Contractors
TIMELESS
Great design doesn’t die. It’s revived, revamped, reusable and adaptable. Such was the case when Jim Poché and Philippe Prouet were tasked with the renovation of an A. Hays Town office building on Pinhook Road to relocate the administrative offices of Lafayette General Health system.
The building at 920 W. Pinhook was once home to Siro’s restaurant and a handful of oilfield companies. Today it is home to offices for LGH’s president, legal department, finance, quality and others as well as open spaces for training. The overhaul added an additional 4,000 square feet and a sleek, modern exterior by bringing the walkways that surrounded the exterior into the fold of the interior.
“We did keep some of the walkways as balconies for executive offices or break rooms,” says Poché.
The building structure was nearly modular, allowing for two identical structures side by side that meet in the middle. The building looks like it’s on stilts with formal lobbies and revamped elevators on the ground floor with the second and third floors serving as the main space.
“We also wanted to keep Lafayette Health’s design concept,” Prouet says, referring to the health system’s recent renovations.
“You can tell they are associated,” Poché adds. “We use the same color of glass as Lafayette General’s surgical addition and horizontal lines and accents.”
The result is a structure that is as functional as it is attractive and modern, yet looks at home on the edge of the Oil Center.
“We used hardly any new steel and used the existing structure. We used [Town’s] concept to create a new function for the building,” Poché says. **— AJH
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GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Lafayette Strong Pavilion
UL Building Institute
Design Team: UL Building Institute with engineering firm
Randall J. Hebert & Associates
Contractor: UL students in collaboration with JB Mouton,
Begneaud Manufacturing and Metal Head
BEYOND DESIGN
Art and architecture meet at Camellia Art Park under the Lafayette Strong Pavilion. Built first under the name Camellia Gridshell, the pavilion is a space for more than shade and rest. It’s a space for the “reflection of art,” according to those who designed it.
Created by the UL School of Architecture, the pavilion is a symbol for the city.
“The Lafayette Strong Pavilion is a beautiful enigma,” says architect W. Geoff Gjertson, a UL professor and co-director of the Building Institute. “There is nothing like it in Lafayette, or Louisiana for that matter. It provokes passersby to question the generic world around them and delights visitors with its ever-changing shadows.”
It is the first project in the Camellia Art Park located on a strip of land on Camellia Boulevard from Johnston Street to the Vermilion River. The art park is slated to be home to a collection of sculptures and a place where education and art marry in a venue that is free and easily accessible. The gridshell is visually unique, but its function is what’s most interesting. It is an innovative lightweight structural system composed of curved surfaces of gridded wood. There are only a few in the country. It is made of white oak covered in white aluminum panels and was built by students and local contractors and funded by a Canadian social sciences and research grant along with help from the Acadiana Center for the Arts and Lafayette Consolidated Government.
The name was changed to Lafayette Strong as the structure was being built during the tragic shooting at the Lafayette Grand Theatre that took the lives of two Lafayette women.
“The way each little node holds the whole thing together … if one thing breaks the whole thing falls,” says grad student Emily Girlinghouse, who worked on the pavilion. “It is a symbol of our strength and resiliency.” — AJH
GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Lafayette Parish Main Public Library
MBSB Group
Design Team: MBSB Group - Architects; M&E Consulting
– Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing; CASE Engineering -
Structural; PSA Dewberry – Library Consultant
Contractor: Ratcliff Construction Co
DOWNTOWN CROWN
The long-awaited renovation of the Lafayette Parish Main Public Library Downtown followed an asbestos abatement that had already been completed, leaving the MBSB Group with a basic shell of a building.
The starting point for MBSB Group was to gut most of the interior of the building and install new mechanical and electrical systems in order for it to function as an updated library.
The general design philosophy for the exterior of the building was to preserve the original aesthetic, while changing the main entrance direction to be more visible and prominent.
“The exterior design, to me, is a nice classic form,” says Mark Stielper with MBSB Group. “It kind of held its age fairly well. And we definitely didn’t want to destroy that. We wanted to enhance that.”
MBSB Group decided to switch the entrances around, starting with the main entrance that used to be next to East Congress Street, which is now located on the opposite side of the building in order to give it more visibility.
They also made an undulating canopy on the outside of the building to enhance the entrance and tie it back into the general circulation around the building. The wash gravel around the outside of the building was replaced with Downtown Streetscape paving to help it tie into the rest of the city center.
MBSB Group also replaced the old, deteriorating parking lot paving and added subsurface drainage as well as new landscaping. They were also able to replace the single pane glass units with better insulated glass on the exterior of the building.
Stielper says the general design sought to play against the harsh squareness of the building.
“It really kind of played against that,” he says. “So you see a lot of curves when you walk in, and it’s trying to get really that creative aspect to play against the rigidness of what had been created before.” – WN
GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
UL Student Union
Architects Southwest
Design Team: Steven J. Oubre, Wayne P. Domingue,
Gregory D’amico, Kellie Searcy, Sean Sheffler, Richard
Bamburak and Doug Lieb
Contractor: The Lemoine Company
A NEW UNION
The UL Student Union is a nod to the past and a vision for the future. The $41 million project in the Collegiate Georgian architecture is a total of 170,000 square feet with a look that’s entirely fresh without forgetting the past.
“Where the old student union turned its back on McKinley Street and its historic oaks, the new Union’s main entrance celebrates it, framing the large oak trees which stand almost fully as tall as the Union itself and are iconic symbols of the university as well as campus life,” says Wayne Domingue, project manager with Architects Southwest.
At the entry a new glass vestibule is framed by more traditional Georgian brick arches that are found throughout the campus, and the entryway also includes the school’s alma mater and fight song in raised relief on burnished stucco walls. A picture-perfect view of the Cypress Lake is framed by the glass of the building.
“Where the old Union once hid Cypress Lake, a lake that is filled with Cypress trees, water, fish and even alligators, the new facility opens up the views with large expanses of glass, allowing all the public halls and second-floor dining spaces that line the courtyard to take full advantage of the unique views to the courtyard and lake,” says project architect Greg Damico.
While the appearance of the Union is a feat, the true accomplishment is that it addressed one of UL President Dr. Joseph Savoie’s initiatives for new campus buildings — sustainability in design.
According to the design team, the Union project was the first building on campus and the first public building in Lafayette to earn a Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) distinction, a testament to the sustainable considerations in the building’s design, as well as the university’s commitment to address these important concerns for the built environment. — AJH
GOLD WINNER IN INTERIOR DESIGN
UL Athletics Performance Center
Architects Southwest
Design Team: Kellie Searcy of Architects Southwest
with Matt Keys and Kimberly Lammers of HOK
CAJUN PRIDE
Ragin’ Cajuns pride is the centerpiece of UL’s new Athletics Performance Center. The facility is used by all UL athletes and home to sports medicine and athletic training and strength training daily.
Architects Southwest was the principal architect on the project, handling the exterior design, and was assisted by global architectural firm HOK in the development and layout of the interior spaces and functionality of the building. The facility is more than 90,000 square feet of Ragin’ Cajuns goodness and serves as the operations base for the football program, as well as the home team locker room with access to outdoor and indoor practice fields.
“The locker room centerpiece is highlighted by the illuminated fleur-de-lis logo in the center of the ceiling and mirrored on the carpet beneath. Finishes were carefully selected to enhance the Ragin’ Cajuns brand and build pride within the program, while being able to withstand the rigorous uses of the building,” says designer Kellie Searcy of ASW. “Custom lockers were designed to properly ventilate the equipment drawers and storage areas within them, to minimize and eliminate odors and to maintain a high-quality air flow to maintain the life of the equipment and apparel housed within.”
An auditorium on the first floor allows for community involvement while the second floor houses coaching staff and provides views to the practice fields. A 12,000-square-foot weight room is the largest in the Sun Belt Conference and outfitted with rubber flooring as well as all of the corridors to withstand athletic cleats.
“We worked closely with the vendor, IDI Workspaces, to ensure the timeliness of installation and delivery as well as maintaining the budget. As the first impression many young athletes have for UL’s campus, it was imperative the building be designed to attract not only students, but also their parents to the program. The furniture was selected to do just this, further establishing the Ragin’ Cajuns brand through its use of form and color,” Searcy says. — AJH
GOLD WINNER IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church Renovation
Hoffpauir Studio
Design Team: Ryan Hebert, Dan Calogne, Frank Thompson and Wade Worley
Contractor: L.K. Breaux & Associates
RECLAMATION
In order to renovate the surreal St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Downtown Crowley to its original glory, Hoffpauir Studio decided to reclaim rather than simply restore some of the church’s classic character.
“It really had great bones,” says architect Joshua Hoffpauir of Hoffpauir Studio. “The Romanesque style that was there and inherent in that church was covered over in the ’70s, which basically whitewashed all of the ornate detailing.”
Hoffpauir Studio installed new art and stencil work in addition to completely gutting all of the wiring in the church to rewire it with more energy efficient LED fixtures as well as new HVAC systems to help the church meet 21st century standards.
But in order to fully restore the church’s interior to its former majesty, the team at Hoffpauir Studio had to see what the church looked like before its last major renovation.
“Basically our research was part and parcel of family photographs that we had to go through to see what the original church configuration was, and it really revealed to us its prior grandeur,” says Hoffpauir. “It had a lot of statues and a lot of artwork that were covered over.”
Some of the new artwork includes pieces that feature four of the gospels as well several of the church’s former statues, which were stripped from the church during its last major renovations.
“We actually found several statues in people’s houses that had been there for years,” says Hoffpauir.
One of those pieces was the original altar, which was being housed in a dilapidated barn by one of the parishioners. The altar had a relief carving of The Last Supper, which had been restored by its host family who were all too happy to see it back in the church.
“That Last Supper was really a pretty neat piece to recapture and put back into the church,” says Hoffpauir. – WN