Louisiana Tech Opens Extension of Alumni Walkway

Band-on-Alumni-Walkway

As part of this year’s homecoming activities Louisiana Tech unveiled the extension of the Alumni Walkway. Nearly 20,000 bricks engraved with the names of recent years’ graduates were laid this fall, including the recent 2013 graduating class. The Ashe Broussard Weinzettle and Tipton Associates team designed the extension and enjoyed attending the homecoming event.

Magnolia Manor Holds Open House

Magnolia-openingMagnolia Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, owned and operated by Central Management Company, hosted an open house to celebrate the completion of extensive renovations and additions designed by Ashe Broussard Weinzettle Architects. The official ceremony included local dignitaries, Central Management executives, Magnolia Manor staff, residents, and resident families.

The expanded and renovated skilled nursing center, located at the intersection of Claiborne Avenue and St. Vincent Avenue in Shreveport, reinforces the mission of Central Management Company to provide premier personal and healthcare services to their residents.

Visitor Center Wins INDesign Gold Medal Award

The St. Landry Parish Visitor Center was honored as the top design in architecture by The INDEPENDENT WEEKLY magazine at their annual INDesign Awards. The judges highlighted the successful integration of building and site which makes us feel pretty good about all the hard work and ambition contributed from our design team along with our collaborators Jeffrey Carbo Landscape Architects and Eddie Cazayoux of Environmental Design.
The Visitor Center is located just north of Opelousas, so the next time you’re on I-49 please drop by and get a great tour from the very friendly staff (and newly minted architecture advocates).
Please visit The Independent Magazine’s site for the full story.
READ FULL ARTICLE >>

Lambright Sports and Wellness Center Opens Its Doors


We were excited to turn over the keys of the Lambright Sports and Wellness Center to Louisiana Tech and see them open the doors to their students. All of the speculation and theorizing that goes into a project of this scope is put to the test when we step away and the staff and students begin to make it their own. So far, the variety of recreation choices has already made Lambright a popular campus destination as the Center is becoming a place to see and be seen.

One of our primary collaborators, Dr. Jim King, Tech’s Vice President for Student Affairs offers his assessment, “This complex sort of screams at you to come have fun, feel better, and improve yourself overall at the same time.” King continues, “Our focus is beyond intramural play and recreation. It’s about health and well-being. We all perform better when we eat properly, exercise regularly and take care of ourselves, which translates into increased student retention and recruitment.”

A grand opening and dedication will follow in the fall academic quarter.

For more information please read the article from Louisiana Tech Magazine.

ABW/EDR Team Awarded ULM Master Plan

The joint venture team of Ashe Broussard Weinzettle and Eskew Dumez Ripple was chosen by the University of Louisiana Monroe, from among a distinguished field of planning firms to develop a Campus Facilities Master Plan.

The goal of the multi-year plan will be to provide a complete assessment of existing campus facilities and infrastructure, analyze current academic and non-academic space utilization and adjacencies; and through stakeholder participation, establish a long term road map in support of growth, security, clarity, and efficiency for the university.

LSU Alexandria Opens New Classroom Building

Ribbon cutting ceremonies were held on Monday, August 30, 2011 for the new Multi-Purpose Academic Center (MPAC) on the LSU Alexandria campus. MPAC is the first new academic building built on campus in more than 30 years, and is among the most technologically advanced buildings in the state.

“I don’t have to tell you this building here has been a long, long time coming . . . Now LSUA has a great building and an even greater future,” Governor Bobby Jindal told the crowd of elected officials, LSUA staff and students, and other stakeholders.

Since opening, the LSUA staff and students have taken full advantage of the new building. Students fill the lounge seating placed around the natural light filled lobby. The first theatrical productions have had great success in the 175 seat black box theater. Teachers and students alike rave about the bright, technology filled classrooms. The building has become an essential piece of the LSUA campus fabric.

LSUA Chancellor David Manuel sums it up best, “We have to start looking to set the bar higher, achieve more. That’s what this building does.”

St. Landry Parish Visitor Center Opens

It is now our opinion that every grand opening should be required to have a zydeco band jamming. Most don’t but ours did.

Our office crew made its first trip down I-49, exit 23, as tourists instead of architects, and was excited to be counted among the 200 visitors present for the ribbon cutting. Hearing the conversations in the exhibition hall, seeing people point out details that we toiled over, and watching guest stroll down the boardwalk made the trip worthwhile. It was a well-earned wrap party for all involved with making the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center a reality.

We can’t express our thanks enough to the St. Landry Tourist Commission for having the vision to do something more than a shallow replication of historical, and instead provide a facility to visitors that serves as a cultural portal to the region and is integrated with the site.

Lt. Governor, Jay Dardenne addressed the crowd, “It’s a great testament to the ingenuity and foresight of the people of this parish to make this happen.”
For more information and a picture of our friend and Director of Tourism, Celeste Gomez, wowing the audience please read the full press release.

READ PRESS RELEASE

Red River Bank Opens New Banking Center

The Ashe Broussard Weinzettle designed Uptown Banking Center of Red River Bank Center was opened for business following an official ribbon cutting ceremony which included Shreveport Business Chamber Officials and Red River Bank Administration and Staff.

This new retail banking office, located at the intersection of Line Avenue and Pierremont Road, marks the sixth location for the growing Red River Bank brand and establishes an anchor location within the Uptown Center.

Park Place Student Housing Earns Design Award

We’re excited to announce that Louisiana Tech University’s newest student housing community, Park Place, has earned South Central Construction’s Best of 2010 Award of Merit in the higher education/research category.

The new student housing provides apartment style living for 348 residents. All units have patio or balcony openings facing the street in an effort to maximize activity, visual interest, and visibility for residents, neighbors, and campus visitors. An urban relationship is established by pushing the buildings to the sidewalk’s edge create a series of internal courtyards.

Park Place was designed with our collaborators and joint venture partners, Tipton Associates, and constructed by Lincoln Builders.
For more information please read the full press release from Louisiana Tech University.

READ FULL ARTICLE

ABW Selected to Design Calvary Worship Center

Following a competitive interview process among several regional design firms, the team of Ashe Broussard Weinzettle Architects and Jeffery Carbo Landscape Architects has been selected to design the new 1,600 seat Worship Center for Calvary Baptist Church on their existing campus located on Jackson Street.

In addition to a new and larger worship space, the campus addition will feature a choral rehearsal suite, video studio, audio studio, broadcast mixing studio, satellite bookstore, and an expansive lobby between the new Worship Center and existing Sanctuary.