Small Project Award of Merit: Desire Street Ministries
Desire Street Ministries, a nonprofit that revitalizes impoverished urban neighborhoods, now has three new buildings that span nearly 32,000 sq ft.
Photo by Michael Palumbo Photography
Desire Street Ministries
New Orleans
Award of Merit
Owner: Desire Street Ministries
Lead Design Firm: Blitch Knevel Architects
General Contractor: DonahueFavret Contractors Inc.
Civil/Structural Engineer: Morphy, Makofsky Inc.
MEP Engineer: Lucien T. Vivien Jr. & Associates
Owner’s Representative: The Sulzer Group
Hurricane Katrina ravaged Desire Street Ministries’ original headquarters in August 2005. The ministry, a nonprofit that revitalizes impoverished urban neighborhoods, now has three new buildings that span nearly 32,000 sq ft. The project was originally projected to be nearly $800,000 over budget, but that was remedied by the contractor with nearly $1 million in value engineering.
The design combined two different building forms—pre-engineered and wood structures—into a single building, which proved to be both a structural and a waterproofing challenge. Early on, the team targeted the availability of expansion materials and determined the location of every caulk joint and piece of flashing. The facility eventually received a 20-year weather-tightness warranty.
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