New Orleans

Key Players 

Owner Recovery School District

Lead Design Firm Blitch Kenvel Architects

General Contractor CORE Construction

Owner's Representative Jacobs/CSRS Program Management

Structural/Civil Engineer Morphy Makofsky Inc.

MEP Engineer Moses Engineers Inc.

The Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School is a 65,000-sq-ft school in New Orleans that suffered water damage during hurricanes Katrina and Rita and was on the FEMA list of schools to be rebuilt or restored. Work included full renovation of the school, replacement of MEP systems and 5,000 sq ft of new construction. Historic tax credits helped fund the project.

During construction, the team discovered that the U-shaped building was settling at the ends and causing the slab to crack. The structural engineer designed a system where the slab and joists could be tied back to the exterior walls using steel angles, which were attached over the span of three concrete joists at four locations and welded to the angles at the exterior wall.