Description of the 930 Poydras Residential Tower, New OrleansLouisiana U.S. by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple:
This 21 story, 462,000 square foot mixed-use residential project is designed to re-imagine the typically horizontal condition of New Orleans’ dense French Quarter blocks as a vertical condition. With 250 residential apartments above a 500 car garage, the program is organized to create a communal amenity floor at the 9th floor level, reinterpreting the courtyard housing typology for urban, high-rise living. At this raised “courtyard” level, shuttle elevators transfer from garage to tower in order to instigate opportunities for residents to cross paths with one another in a shared, communal space as opposed to the typically introverted collection of experiences found in most high-rise residential developments.
The project site is located on the primary commercial thoroughfare of New Orleans within walking distance of numerous public amenities. The project is in close proximity to a number of public parks, the downtown medical district, urban shopping districts and entertainment venues. The Louisiana Superdome, the Mississippi riverfront, the entire central business district and the French Quarter are all within a one-mile radius of the project.
As a means to recreate the social interaction found in the courtyards of the city’s historic French Quarter, the design consolidates all tenant amenities at the ninth floor level in order to condense their programmatic force. Anchoring this level is the “sky lobby”, a dramatic glass box that cantilevers out from the façade and offers spectacular views of the downtown skyline. This double-height lounge serves as an extension of the tenant’s living spaces, with coffee bar and movie screening lounge set among informal groupings of furniture. Outside the sky lobby is an expansive pool deck, with a tiered bleacher rising from the pool to a sunning platform at its top. Tucked beneath these bleachers is the facility’s fitness center. A series of townhomes along the south side – with front door access directly off the pool deck – create an architectural edge and produce the effect of a ground level courtyard on the garage rooftop.
Departing from the oppressive monotony of the commercial office towers surrounding it, the exterior envelope incorporates a highly articulated metal panel and glass patterned façade. This approach allows for a higher percentage of glazing at the upper residential floors with a minimal amount of glass provided at the garage in order to maintain a seamless, while animated, composition. Garage levels also incorporate a significant percentage of perforated panels as part of the façade composition, thereby eliminating the need for mechanical ventilation.
Sustainable design considerations informed design choices throughout the project. The envelope design – utilizing high-performance insulated metal panels with an integrated window and glazing system – provides high thermal performance with a minimum of thermal bridging. Low emission indoor finishes were used throughout to protect indoor air quality, regional materials were given preference, and a zero-irrigation landscape design was used for courtyard plantings. The project was designed and constructed to anticipate a solar PV array dedicated to providing a renewable energy source for base building energy needs. Having recently reached full occupancy, the energy consumption is currently being monitored and fed back to improve operations and inform future building design modifications.
