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Jack's House at Trinity Episcopal Church and School

  • Revitalizing a historic campus through adaptive reuse and strategic expansion, in collaboration with VMDO, to create a central hub fostering community and operational efficiency.

    • Category Cultural
    Adaptive Reuse + Modernization

    Size 7,754 SF

    Location New Orleans, LA

    Year 2024

    Opportunity

    TPA, with VMDO Architects, engaged with Trinity Episcopal Church and School to develop a 10+ year Master Plan, in order to adapt its historic campus to contemporary needs. Jack's House, a vacant 2.5-story historic building, presented a unique opportunity to consolidate church and school operations within a central community hub.

    Strategy

    A careful renovation preserved the existing building’s historic elements, secured historic tax credits, and integrated modern systems to improve building efficiency. The addition, designed to support the Church and School’s administrative offices, includes bright and flexible meeting rooms, which are utilized for diverse community activities.

    Prioritizing accessibility from the church and street, the renovation reconfigured interior spaces, informed through an engagement process with the school's administrative team.

    Flexible and bright meeting rooms were designed to support diverse community activities.

    Outcome

    Since unifying administrative offices within the new complex, the church and school has benefitted from a new sense of cohesion. The Business, Campaign, Communications, and Development offices operate with greater efficiency thanks to connected but dedicated workspaces. Faculty, parishioners, and committee members are resourced with private spaces and flexible meeting rooms, providing opportunities for enhanced communication, deep focus, and spontaneous interactions. These changes have resulted in a growing culture of collaboration across departments between the Church and School.

    Related Projects

    Trinity Episcopal Church and School Master Plan

    Trinity Episcopal Church Restoration

    The Team

    Gene Guidry

    Daniel Ferg