AIA Louisiana Architecture Awards 2026

Growing Local Pavilion by Tulane's Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design

This pavilion was designed to support an organization focused on urban farming, food policy, and improving fresh food access in New Orleans' Central City neighborhood and beyond. The structure serves multiple functions: an outdoor classroom, a farm support space, and a venue for a weekly farmers market.

The design is guided by the organization's mission to bring people together around food. Water management, repurposed materials, and low carbon impacts weren't just practical choices — they reflect the values of the community the pavilion serves and reinforce what gets taught there. The architectural language draws from the surrounding neighborhood vernacular so the structure feels at home in its context rather than dropped into it. Additonal details incporporate the local foodscape into the project, not just in raised beds but in subtle material choices like oyster-crete.

The result is a comfortable, flexible outdoor space that makes it easier for New Orleanians to learn about food systems, access fresh produce, and connect with one another.

Project Team: Aliyah Murph (M.Arch *26), Amanda Martell (candidate B.Arch ’27), Cooper Pertchik (candidate B.Arch ’27), Ella Comstock (BSA ’26), Javier Castillo (candidate B.Arch ’27), Jonathan Hall (M.Arch *26, MSRED *26), Juliet Hess (M.Arch *26), Luke Gannon (BSA ’26, BS Real Estate ’26), Megan Schlief (B.Arch ’26), Ben Derlan (Adjunct Lecturer), Emilie Taylor Welty (Small Center Design Build Manager, Architecture Program Director, Associate Professor, M.Arch *06), Nick Jenisch (Small Center Associate Director of Urban Design, Adjunct Lecturer, B.Arch ’03), Ann Yoachim (Professor of Practice), Brandon Surtain (Small Center Assistant Director of Community Engagement, Adjunct Lecturer, M.Arch *20, MSRED *20) 

Landscape Consultants: Liz Camuti (Assistant Professor), Leah Kahler (Research Assistant Professor) 

View project summary.

The Mitzie by workshopWDXL

A circa 1910 apartment building conversion from residential to commercial use to create a three-suite, 10-bedroom hotel. With a holistic approach to hospitality, every component was thoughtfully considered, from furnishings and fixtures down to the branding design. As guests enter each unit via a shaded porch space, they are met with a sensorial experience that one can only describe as wholly New Orleans.

In designing this hotel, we imagined a journey to visit an eccentric relative. Someone eclectic and funky, but somehow always put-together and visiting them feels like home. Each space is a curated collection of curiosities, with swirls of color to remind you that life in New Orleans is based on a history of cultures that condense time and space as you exist simultaneously both in the present moment and the past.

Care was taken to minimize the impact on the vernacular shotgun floor plan while still adapting to accessibility and code requirements, synthesizing circulation and carving out service spaces to meet program operations. The client budget was exceptionally constrained, requiring a high degree of creativity and resourcefulness. The design brief Interior finish and treatments detailing and furniture, fixtures and equipment are where the design is fully actualized.

Project Team: Jessica Walker (M. Arch ’07), David Demsey (M. Arch ’07), Jennifer Wickham (M.Arch ’12), David Gindin, Kris Shull Dunn (M.Arch *08) 

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Georgia Forestry Commission Learning Lab + Maintenance Shed by Atelier Mey

Southern State contains approximately 24 million acres of forestland supporting a vast timber economy that produces pulp, paper, biomaterials, engineered wood products, and structural-grade lumber. Yet nearly 90 percent of the state’s structural lumber is exported beyond its borders. The center for field works responds to this imbalance by reconnecting construction to the regional forest landscape using locally sourced and manufactured mass timber systems. Positioned within the working forest, the building establishes a direct relationship between resource stewardship, material extraction, and construction. Exposed timber surfaces bring the warmth and tactile qualities of wood into the daily workspace, while the structure directly connects the organization's work to the buildings they inhabit. The program required an innovative long-span enclosure, leading the design team to develop a 60-foot clear-span roof system utilizing 5-ply Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) panels paired with bowstring tension members. The resulting structure forms a thin and materially efficient roof plane that maximizes openness, daylight, and flexibility. The exposed CLT panels simultaneously serve as primary structure, interior finish, and thermal enclosure, reducing material redundancy, construction complexity, and embodied carbon.

The project positions mass timber as both a renewable structural system and a catalyst for regional economies, environmental stewardship, and an architecture grounded in place.

Project Team: Christopher Meyer (Associate Professor), Shawna Meyer (Professor of Practice), Ben Cornett (B.Arch ’25), Miranda Santiago (B.Arch ’28 candidate) 

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RNGD Headquarters by EskewDumezRipple

The design balances the raw character of the original structure with refined, contemporary interventions that prioritize flexibility, sustainability, and employee well-being. At the heart of the design is the entry sequence, cascading from a lush, landscaped courtyard into a double-height atrium that floods the space with natural light, reinforcing a sense of openness and transparency. From this central hub, the administrative and workforce development wings extend outward—two distinct yet interconnected components united in a single headquarters.

The space functions like a flexible coworking environment, accommodating field-based employees and external consultants alike, and fostering collaboration across roles. Surrounding the central atrium are dynamic workspaces ranging from open-plan seating to enclosed meeting rooms and quiet focus areas, offering employees the flexibility to choose how and where they work. An expanded café and bar area acts as both social hub and informal meeting zone, encouraging casual interaction, spontaneous collaboration, and moments of respite throughout the day.

A central feature stair connects the upper and lower levels, serving as a visual and social anchor within the atrium. Material selection honors the building’s industrial roots while introducing warmth and texture through blackened steel, reclaimed wood, custom concrete, soft furnishings, and acoustic treatments. Deliberately designed without private offices, the floor plan fosters transparency and collaboration while preserving access to natural light at every desk.

Project Team: José Alvarez (M.Arch ’97), Jill Traylor, Sarah Rivard (BSA ’18), Mignon Antoine, Sam Lindley (M.Arch *22), Marta Fenollosa Ricart, Cynthia Dubberley (Professor of Practice, M.Arch ’98) 

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Burden Museum & Gardens Welcome Center by EskewDumez Ripple

The 6,500 SF welcome center, with 3,000 SF of covered outdoor space, serves as the primary point of arrival to a historic 440-acre campus that functions simultaneously as a public botanical garden, museum, and active research landscape.

The architecture draws directly from the rural, picturesque character of the campus, taking cues from vernacular structures. The building unfolds through a sequence of thresholds, creating moments of compression and release that heighten awareness of the surrounding gardens. Time-honored sustainability strategies anchor this experience: shaded porches and courtyards with deep overhangs and breezeways that allow air to move naturally through the building.

The design is deeply informed by water, both as a functional system and a visible teaching tool. Roof runoff is collected via an expressive roof scupper and directed into rain gardens and permeable gravel, where water is slowed, observed, and released back into the regional watershed.

Programmatically, the building accommodates a range of experiences from everyday visits to large-scale events while remaining intuitive and accessible. A generous foyer supports orientation and interpretation, connecting directly to a flexible event space/gift shop. Restrooms are separated by covered outdoor space, supporting independent operation and extended use.

Material choices reinforce the project’s emphasis on craft, durability, and responsible stewardship. Locally sourced cypress celebrates regional building traditions while reducing embodied carbon and reinforcing a commitment to resource conservation. Polished concrete floors, hardy board, and a limited material palette support durability, ease of maintenance, and economic efficiency, ensuring the building can serve the public in the future.

Project Team: Steve Dumez (Professor of Practice), Mark Hash, Katie Nguyen (M.Arch *16), Rainey Charbonnet, Andie Ottenweller, Patrice Uwizeyimana, Phoenix Montague 

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John Stubbs, Emeritus Professor of Practice in Preservation Studies - LAF Louisiana Patron of Architecture Award

John Stubbs, Emeritus Professor of Practice in Preservation Studies and an accomplished advocate for preserving and promoting Louisiana’s architectural heritage for more than five decades, has been selected by the Louisiana Architecture Foundation for its Patron of Architecture award. Stubbs, of Monroe and formerly of New Orleans, received the award at the AIA Louisiana 2026 Conference on Architecture awards presentation on October 2 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The award is given in recognition of an individual who has shown significant leadership in promoting the merits and quality of architecture in Louisiana. 

As a young LSU faculty member, Stubbs produced the original three-volume inventory, history and preservation plan for Laurel Valley Plantation, the most intact surviving sugar complex in the South. 

Stubbs led the World Monuments Fund, directing restoration projects around the globe, for 20 years, then came back to Louisiana as Director of the Master of Preservation Studies program for Tulane University in 2011. In that role, he helped save historic buildings including the 1855 Carrollton Courthouse, and created the New Orleans Preservation timeline, an interactive database that documents the city’s preservation history. He also did field studies on French Quarter building restorations. 

He has guided restorations of historic homes and buildings across the state; and as a preservation advocate, he has waged campaigns to save the World Trade Center, Four Seasons Hotel, the Phillis Wheatley School, all in New Orleans, and Poverty Point, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He has written four landmark preservation books and done countless lectures across the globe on Louisiana’s built heritage.

He has also volunteered to advance numerous preservation projects and has led international delegations on tours of New Orleans to try to spark investment from international groups in the city’s historic sites. He has served on the board of the La. Trust for Historic Preservation and continues to teach about the necessity of historic preservation. 

Calvin Gallion (M.Arch '17) receives AIA LA Emerging Professional Award

New Orleans architect and alumnus Calvin Gallion (M.Arch '17), III, AIA, NCARB, NOMA, has received the Louisiana Emerging Professional Award from the American Institute of Architects Louisiana at its annual Awards Celebration on October 2 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The celebration is part of the AIA Louisiana 2026 Conference on Architecture.

The Emerging Professional Award is given to individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early stage of their architectural career.

Gallion is design principal and co-founder of New Orleans architectural firm studio^RISE. An active volunteer with AIA New Orleans, Gallion has served on numerous committees, including the Emerging Professionals Committee, and as director of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee; and has led and moderated numerous chapter programming events. He continues to serve as a mentor to architecture students at Tulane University, and is currently serving as Young Architects Forum Representative to the AIA Louisiana Board of Directors. He has served as the Louisiana representative on the AIA National Young Architects Forum since 2025 and as such also serves on the AIA Louisiana State Board of Directors. Besides his AIA activities, Gallion is the District 1 representative for the Louisiana State Selection Board of Facility Planning and Control; and is a member of New Orleans Urban Sketchers.