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St. Tammany Parish Safe Haven

Covington, Louisiana

Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville closed their doors in 2012, removing access to mental and behavioral health to the area, and has remained unoccupied since that time. In 2016, after years of research and planning, the St Tammany Parish Government took the next step to turn this facility into Safe Haven, to provide Behavioral Health Services to the community of southeast Louisiana. 

The facility strives to decriminalize the ideas of behavioral health and ease the misuse of correctional and emergency facilities to provide the services needed. 


Offices at Mid-City Market

New Orleans, Louisiana

Mid-City Market shopping center in New Orleans is situated along the Lafitte Greenway pedestrian and bicycle corridor in Mid-City, extending to the corner of Bienville Street and North Carrollton Avenue. The complex features a 53,000 SF Winn-Dixie grocery store at the rear of a parcel of property that was an area of blight for several years. An additional 55,000 SF of retail space is distributed among multiple buildings.

 

The Lafitte Greenway runs alongside the Winn-Dixie, and other retail establishments in the complex face this Greenway. The designs for the center capitalize on its proximity to the Greenway by incorporating features such as shade, trellises, outdoor dining areas, and a plaza with benches. Another section of the center extends to Bienville Street, offering various retail establishments, attractions, and amenities for shoppers, pedestrians, and cyclists. The planning of vehicular traffic flow, particularly for commercial vehicles, was done with care to ensure safe circulation for pedestrians. The site planning and conceptual design process involved full participation and input from neighborhood groups like the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization and the Friends of the Lafitte Corridor. Residents, future greenway users, and local merchants recognize the appeal of this centrally located shopping area for people living, working, or attending school in the vicinity. The tenant mix includes specialty retail shops, businesses, banking, a fitness studio, and locally-based restaurants. Additionally, the old Loubat Building on Bienville Street was also designed by VRA as a mixed-use development and offices.


Hancock Whitney Bank, Lakeside Branch

Lakeside Shopping Center

Metairie, Louisiana

VergesRome Architects developed the new branch prototype design for Hancock Whitney Bank. The building design is flexible in size to allow the building to be modified depending on the program for the site. The first branch that was built is in Metairie, Louisiana on Causeway Boulevard. 

The building contains 2,829 square feet and includes 5 private offices, 4 tellers, and a conference room. There are also 3 drive up lanes, a drive-up ATM and a walk-up ATM. There is a provision to add a second drive up ATM. 

The interior walls of the branch are built with DIRTT walls to allow for easy modification in the future, with little disruption to the operation of the bank. 


Allie Mae Williams Multi-Service Center

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Allie Mae Williams Multi-Service Center is located at 2020 Jackson Avenue in Central City. The Complex is an important resource in a neighborhood with a long history of advocacy for disadvantaged individuals and groups. In addition to the designated programs of childcare, senior citizen care, public health services and educational opportunity training, the Complex is a hub of political and social activity. It provides meeting spaces for community forums and district planning meetings, provides rental space for a privately run health clinic and provides basic public health screenings. 

The existing Senior Center and Edna Pilsbury Buildings received roof repairs and replacement of HVAC systems. Renovations to the Multi-Media Center and Daycare Administration Building will include a Head Start Nursery facility and a branch of the New Orleans Library. The renovated facility, positioned on the Jackson Avenue frontage, will present a welcoming image for the surrounding community, connecting visually to the existing buildings on the campus while reflecting the neighborhood’s vernacular 19th and early 20th century retail architecture. 

Allie Mae Williams Multi-Service Center Before Renovations


Department of Public Works Maintenance Building

New Orleans, Louisiana

Construction will begin soon on the City of New Orleans Maintenance Building and Site Construction Project, the first Phase of a Master Plan Development for the City of New Orleans for the Department of Public Works.  This phase consists of a new, 7,217 square foot multi-purpose building that includes 4,475 square feet of office space and a training room for employees.  The remaining 2,700 square feet of area provides space for minor vehicle services and repairs along with associated equipment and storage areas.  Site development includes accessory parking, a vehicle wash area and accommodations for material storage for street repair work. 


Christian Brothers School St. Anthony of Padua Campus

New Orleans, Louisiana

VergesRome Architects had the wonderful opportunity to assist Christian Brothers School with their new grade-school facility at Saint Anthony of Padua School on Canal Street. VRA worked with Ryan Gootee General Contractors and the key faculty of Christian Brothers’ City Park Campus to prioritize areas of the existing school that needed upgrades.  Renovations included new lighting, new window coverings, IT upgrades, playground equipment, auditorium renovation and parking / playground revamping.  The renovations unify the architectural and interiors connection between the City Park Campus and the new St. Anthony Padua Campus. 


Eagan Insurance Office Building

Mandeville, Louisiana

The client, a premier Gulf South insurance agency, desired an attractive office building for its highly visible site along Highway 190, the main north-south vehicular corridor linking Covington, Louisiana, to New Orleans. VergesRome Architects maximized the potential for the growing company’s Northshore flagship, designing a versatile, daylight-filled one-story building with 14-foot-high ceilings, taking advantage of adjacent wooded views to the east and south of the site. 

VRA oriented the building to take advantage of passive solar concepts to minimize heat gain and maximize shading from the western sun. Prodema slat panels (Barcelona, Spain) aid in screening intense afternoon sunlight. Curtain wall solar glazing was an optimal design solution for the east and south elevations, protected and shaded by the woodlands and extended overhangs on the south side. 

The use of white concrete masonry and teak wood on the façade reflects the client’s passion for sailing, contrasting with nearby office buildings of dark painted stucco. The floor plan provides an open office work area on the west side of the building. Private offices are located along the east side. 

Construction on the 5,000 SF offices of Eagan Insurance Company was completed in July 2014 at a cost of approximately $1.8 million. 


Ochsner Lake Terrace Medical Office Building

New Orleans, Louisiana

VergesRome Architects is working with the Ochsner Health System to expand their existing presence in New Orleans and bring a high-quality healthcare facility to the Lake Terrace neighborhood, in an area that until now has lacked comprehensive healthcare facilities.

The new, three-story, 57,000 sf medical office building will house a medical clinic for full-time obstetrics, pediatrics and internal medicine as well as other vital specialties on a rotating basis. The first floor of the building will also include a full-service imaging center, lab and retail pharmacy.



Louisiana State University Parking Garage

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

In Joint Venture with Jerry Campbell and Associates of Baton Rouge, the noted New Orleans architectural firm, Kessels Diboll Kessels (KDK), acquired by VergesRome Architects in 2010, has designed a 752-car parking garage for the Louisiana State University campus. Located on a parcel of land bounded by Highland Road, Raphael Semmes, and East Campus Drive, the $22.8 Million facility was completed in March 2013. The six-story LSU parking structure was designed to complement the existing architectural fabric of the University. 

The project also included the design of a space for the new location of the Barnes and Noble LSU Bookstore that is accessed on the Highland Road frontage, as part of the complex containing the new garage. The bookstore can also be accessed from the garage. Additional ancillary space has been included on Level One of the garage for the use of various campus organizations.