Project Description
Restoration of and addition to a circa-1816 structure in the French Quarter for use as a history museum and galleries.
The Historic New Orleans Collection is a renowned institution dedicated to preserving the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South. The Collection’s physical facilities include multiple historic buildings on two campuses in the Vieux Carré that serve its museum, research, and publishing functions. Waggonner & Ball’s renovation expands the facilities of The Collection, faithfully restoring original structures, including their original colors, and carefully inserting a contemporary exhibition wing. Together, the restoration and addition double The Collection’s exhibition facilities, providing a permanent French Quarter history exhibit in the old building and a series of large-format art galleries in the addition. The firm’s integration of old and new extended throughout the details, including the design of all gallery furniture, and to light monitors and mechanical units on the roof, as all exterior surfaces fell under the jurisdiction of Vieux Carre Commission architectural review.
The Seignouret-Brulatour House, which anchors the campus on Royal Street, dates to 1816 and boasts a storied history, having played host to wine importers, furniture makers, bohemian artists, and the city’s first television station. Brulatour Court, one of the French Quarter’s best-known courtyards, lies at the heart of the campus at the meeting of the old and the new. Carefully articulated to preserve the scale of the courtyard, the Tricentennial Wing quietly announces its presence while reflecting the historic space of the courtyard.
Waggonner & Ball collaborated with a team of archaeologists to excavate the historic courtyard, including uncovering the original courtyard well and making visible the groundwater connection to the Mississippi River. Following the client’s mission to support local tradecraft, Waggonner & Ball specified lime plaster, a historic original finish that has fallen out of use, and The Collection funded training to revive this traditional material technique.
The project anticipates and is awaiting LEED Silver certification.