The old Louisiana ArtWorks building

New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute

Moses Engineers originally designed this New Orleans Central Business District location to reflect the marriage of old with new to provide artisans with quality work studios and the public with an opportunity to see them create. In 2014, another owner took over, and we re-designed the facility for a culinary school.

Moses Engineers’ original design plan called for demolition of two buildings on Carondelet Street in order to build a new building connected to a circa 1900 warehouse. The buildings being demolished were once occupied by the Housing Authority of New Orleans and were considered without historic value. However, during demolition the existing aluminum façade panels were removed to reveal original intricate detailing. We redesigned the Bradford building to restore it to its former beauty and integrate it into the new building linking both from the arts complex. Moses Engineers provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) and specialty lighting design services for all phases of this prestigious project.

We designed the mechanical systems to provide the greatest amount of flexibility housing galleries, studios and offices. Specialty system implemented include a variable volume kiln exhaust system that allowed for future expansion and compressed air distribution to studio work stations. A building automation system links all facets of the project together including HVAC, access control, security cameras and fire alarm.

Moses Engineers also designed a special lighting scheme for the project’s outdoor glass blowing studio to provide diffuse overhead illumination and accent fixtures for critical areas. Specialty sconces were selected for the corridor to help convey the creativity within the adjacent areas. Additionally, we designed a mixture of line voltage and low voltage lighting for the galleries, providing maximum flexibility regardless of individual artist’s show.