EDR Day of Service 2021 | Recap
Building Community
In January of 2015, EDR launched its first Day of Service, an annual office-wide initiative that simultaneously strengthens its commitment to building community and honors the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. This year, the studio celebrated its seventh annual Day of Service. Each MLK Day the firm donates the services of its entire staff to amplify organizations working to better the New Orleans community. The day is an opportunity to concentrate the skills and interests of the entire studio towards assisting larger ongoing community efforts, and enables community organizations to participate in a collaborative design process, one adapted to their particular design challenge. Challenges can be tackled through a wide range of services -- building and landscape design, graphic advocacy, branding, marketing and communications planning, and urban engagement at a range of scales. In the seven years since, the day has quickly become a part of our intrinsic identity. It reflects our belief that architecture has the power to reinforce the bonds of community and connect people to place in profound and meaningful ways. This year, we had the privilege of partnering with five transformative organizations: A’s & Aces, Animal Rescue New Orleans, House of Tulip, A Community Voice, and River Road African American Museum. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced an interesting wrinkle to our typical Day of Service accelerated design charette approach. A welcome challenge, we worked together amongst our teams and partner organizations – successfully navigating the first fully virtual Day of Service. The MLK Day of Service is easily our firm’s favorite day of the year. We hope you enjoy reading about each of the projects as much as we enjoyed being a part of them.
A’s & Aces & Dillard University
A’s & Aces is a sports-based youth development model, whose mission is to provide academic assistance, life skills, and tennis to New Orleans public school children. The A's & Aces Program seeks a ‘home’ where it will operate both programmatically and administratively, while Dillard University is seeking to reinstate its varsity tennis program. Dillard has been donating use of its facility to A's & Aces year-round since 2009. The goal is to now designate a new tennis facility as the home of A's & Aces. At the same time, Dillard University is partnering with A's & Aces to reinstate its varsity teams that were suspended after hurricane Katrina. A's & Aces will be the tennis provider, providing services to A's & Aces children and the Dillard community. This is a unique partnership between a National Junior Tennis & Learning organization and an HBCU. Both entities want to increase their impact in the community.
A's & Aces students celebrate "Lights on After School Day", an event that promotes opportunities that help level the playing field for youth nationwide. | From A’s & Aces Website
EDR partnered with A’s & Aces and Dillard University to create a design plan for the tennis & learning center. This included court improvements, the addition of two new courts, a new tennis and education facility, and placing all of this within the overall strategic plan of the University and its athletics complex. The symbiotic relationship that A’s and Aces and Dillard University are striving to create inspired the EDR team in their work. The team spent time listening to both A’s & Aces and Dillard’s visions for the future; making sure to understand the intricacies of their partnership. The design of the new tennis center aimed to support this partnership, while meeting both organizations’ needs.
EDR identified several opportunities during the design charrette with the partners. The new building is situated on site to maximize available parking, maintain the same orientation for all the courts, and provide integrated bleacher style seating along the long end of the courts. The long, skinny bar building features a generous single-loaded corridor for maximum efficiency and views out to the courts. The tennis center will house a pro shop, lockers and restrooms to serve the tennis courts, and flexible classrooms for the A’s & Aces students and volunteers. The structural frame of the building is pulled outside of form as an organizing element, and the roof is turned up at the edges to give a sense of lightness and openness. The security needs for the tennis complex are met subtly by integrating a sliding gate into the elevated patio’s handrail.
Brandon Greene, General Counsel for Dillard University, noted that EDR incorporated both what A’s & Aces was asking for, as well as Dillard University’s desire for the new tennis center to be deeply grounded to the alma mater, saying, “It looks like you guys were really able to put that into practice here and I’m really, really impressed”. Upon seeing the final presentation, Anna Monhartova, President of A’s and Aces, was immediately thinking through the next steps to make the project a reality. “Once we build it, I hope it will feel like […] it has always been there [on the Dillard campus]. It so fits. […] I am now thinking on how to make it happen.” The visioning package from EDR will aid in the fundraising process for both non-profits.
If you are interested to learn more about this project and how to support it, please contact Dr. Barnes at kbarnes@dillard.edu and Dr. Monhartova at a.monhartova@asandaces.org.
If you would like to learn more about A’s & Aces, Dillard University, or donate towards the completion of the new tennis center, please follow the links below.
Animal Rescue New Orleans
Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) is a volunteer-based organization created and dedicated to the rescue and aid of abandoned and homeless animals founded in the wake of Hurrican Katrina as the first no-kill shelter to serve the New Orleans area. Since March of 2006, ARNO has been responding to urgent medical and rescue needs of animals across the state and has been doing so out of their “make-do” warehouse space. In that time, ARNO has rescued and rehomed over 10,500 animals. ARNO has been providing non-stop care and service for animals in our region, and plans to continue to do so for many years to come. They are currently housed in a rented, un-insulated warehouse with no central air or heat. Animal Rescue New Orleans hopes to upgrade their offerings and quality of life for animals by building a new shelter.
Designing and envisioning a new dream facility for ARNO is where EDR came in. After meeting with the ARNO, understanding their needs, and seeing their dedication to the New Orleans community, the EDR-ARNO team developed a program, site plan, floor plans, and renderings for the new facility. The process of working with the partners at ARNO was at once fun, challenging, rewarding, and exciting. The EDR team was encouraged to think creatively about how cats and dogs can live comfortably while waiting for their furever homes. Planning the site and new facility based around flows and daily animal schedules, EDR was able to translate ARNO’s goals into a comprehensive design for ARNO’s dream facility.
EDR worked closely with ARNO CEO, Kathy Perra, and ARNO VP, Ginnie Baumann, in the design process. The team was honored and took great pride in having the opportunity to offer ARNO a useful next step in their process towards their new space. After seeing the final visioning package, Kathy put to words to the impact of EDR’s work, “I am just totally blown away, this is just tremendous, you listened to everything we said, and more. It’s our dream come true, it’s pretty amazing.” Ginnie mirrored the sentiment, “We can’t thank you enough, it’s just beautiful.” ARNO will be using the EDR visioning package to fundraise for their dream facility. Take a look at the video below to see the vision for the new space and follow the links to learn more about ARNO, adopt a lucky animal, or donate to make their beautiful dream become a reality!
After seeing the final vision package, Kathy put to words how impactful EDR’s work already was and will be on their organization’s efforts to improve their facility will be, saying, “I am just totally blown away, this is just tremendous, you listened to everything we said, and more. It’s our dream come true, it’s pretty amazing.” Ginnie mirrored the sentiment, “We can’t thank you enough, it’s just beautiful.” ARNO is looking to fundraise to get their dream facility built, take a look at the video below to imagine their new space, and follow the link to contact ARNO, learn more about them, adopt a lucky animal, or donate to make their beautiful dream reality and functional!
For more information, visit ARNO’s website:
House of Tulip
House of Tulip is a nonprofit collective creating housing solutions for Transgender and Gender non-conforming (TGNC) people in Louisiana. The group purchased and is in the process of renovating a multifamily property in an area of New Orleans that is accessible to health care and employment opportunities. This will be the first of the nonprofit’s pilot permanent housing campuses, and it will house up to 5 TGNC people at a time. House of Tulip also aims to create a pathway to home ownership for the community. In addition, the group is working to acquire a separate space that can serve as a community center where TGNC people can safely access social safety net navigation, community programming, a hot meal, a shower, or a safe place to just hang out or do schoolwork.
EDR partnered with House of Tulip in realizing a Vision Package that would guide their organization in the renovation of new property, provide resources for acquiring future properties and give access to the architectural design community itself.
House of Tulip centers its community around a feeling of warmth, tranquility, and growth while also reflecting the vibrancy of those living within it. These keywords served as conceptual drivers to envision environments that both welcome and provide support. Approaching the design by balancing private and open settings, the spaces anticipate embracing a wide range of personalities hosted over time. To bridge House of Tulip’s mission to increase accessibility throughout the city, EDR gathered resources for attaining future properties, such as zoning, research and mapping out city resources. Altogether, the work created reflects House of Tulip’s aim to ensure equity, equality, and safety. You can learn more about House of Tulip and donate to their cause at the link below.
For more information, visit:
A Community Voice
A Community Voice (ACV) is an affiliate of ACORN and a non-profit community organization comprised of working, poor, elderly, women, children, and families. ACV provides a community voice for its members and constituencies in the everyday issues that affect their daily lives. This enables the community to bring together those who have common interests and concerns to improve the quality of their lives and those of others in the community.
EDR partnered with ACV to develop the Green Affordable Paradise program. The program aims to provide a long-term, low-cost housing solution for areas in the New Orleans community where housing is less accessible. Developed on a land trust site owned by ACORN Community Land Association of Louisiana (ACLALA), the prototype house at 1516 Arts Street will be a model of what affordable, sustainable, and resilient housing design can look like for New Orleans.
The project aims to integrate into the surrounding neighborhood of shotgun houses by bringing the entrance closer to street level and by orienting outdoor porches towards the public space, encouraging interaction with the surrounding community. Addressing the needs of a changing climate, the prototype design features an elevated main living space above projected flood lines and a rainwater collection system. This system allows water to be retained on site in a bioswale rain garden designed in partnership with LSU at the rear of the property. A ground level screened-in outdoor living area provides additional living and respite space for the residents. The design also includes a wheelchair accessible apartment aimed specifically at housing veterans, in partnership with the American Legion.
A diagram showing the path of water throughout the site
Commenting on the prototype design, ACV Executive Director Beth Butler said: “We definitely need this kind of housing for people who are from here who have given their all, and they need a place to live that is affordable, and sustainable, and something that is also beautiful.”
“It’s very exciting. It’s beautiful. And I just can’t wait to get started with this.”
More information:
River Road African American Museum
The River Road African American Museum (RRAAM) seeks to enlighten the world about the journey of the African American from slavery to independence in the River Parishes of Louisiana. The RRAAM’s mission is to educate visitors about the history and culture of African Americans in the rural communities of South Louisiana through the collection, preservation and interpretation of art, artifacts, and historic buildings. The RRAAM includes the museum, Dr. Charles Lowery’s Medical Office (the first black doctor in Donaldsonville, who treated patients black and white, unheard of at the time), the RRAAM Rosenwald School for Education, History, and Culture, and the True Friends Benevolent Association Hall.
Benevolent associations were self-help groups created during a time when African Americans couldn’t get insurance or mutual aid, so they mobilized and helped themselves. Built in 1886, The True Friends Benevolent Association Hall served as the hub, haven, and community gathering place for Donaldsonville’s African American community. In addition to being a community hub, the True Friends Benevolent Association Hall was a place for burgeoning artists and musicians on their way to New Orleans. True Friends Benevolent Association Hall is the largest and oldest existing benevolent society hall remaining in Louisiana.
The True Friends Benevolent Association Hall needs a complete restoration. This undertaking will help RRAAM by providing additional space to share exhibits and benefits the community by providing space for music education, performances, and gatherings. The restoration will bring an important piece of history, both for black Donaldsonville and the entire River Parish region, back into commerce.
The EDR team visited Donaldsonville with the museum representatives to assess the current conditions of the True Friends Benevolent Association Hall and to see first-hand the rich history of the town. EDR worked with the River Road African Museum to re-imagine the future of the True Friends Benevolent Association Hall; creating floor plans and renderings that bring the space into the 21st century, while paying homage to the original characteristics and function of the building. The first floor will house a large event space, as well as food service and an additional small space for a future tenant. The second story will hold office space. The new addition of an outdoor stage will allow for outdoor events and performances – bringing further activity to the site. EDR created a comprehensive budget for the renovation to further assist in planning and fundraising efforts. RRAAM is looking forward to making the space a reality and hosting the first event in the renovated True Friends Benevolent Association Hall.
For more information on the RIver Road African American Museum, visit the following links:
Conclusion
We are incredibly proud of our work in collaboration with all our partner organizations this year. A heartfelt thank you to all the partners. We appreciate you making the time to share your goals and vision for the future of your organizations. We are grateful to have helped you get closer to those goals! To any institutions looking to partner with us in a future Day of Service, please keep an eye out for the Fall 2021 call for proposals.
