Introduction

The Foundry Lofts & Lounge is loft apartments located inside the abandoned building that was once ‘Jackson Street Junction’ and ‘The Foundry’, both bars, in Thibodaux, Louisiana. This building is located on the edge of Thibodaux’s historical downtown and Main Street District and centrally located inside the city limits of Thibodaux. With such a convenient location to restaurants, boutiques, bars, entertainment, and grocery stores, remodeling this abandoned building into loft living spaces will help bring in the target crowd that has to travel to Thibodaux’s downtown area. The downtown area has recently gone through a huge revitalization process within the last three years. Almost monthly, there are new businesses opening up and more people are visiting the area than ever before. What was once a large span of abandoned historical buildings is now a prospering business district that encompasses big city living within this small town.


The original building, constructed in 1849, was owned by Clause Farms, Inc., and it was recently sold to Michael Schexnayder of Global Housing Solutions in 2008. There are plans to remodel this building, but the actual usage is not yet determined. This building has been a large eye-sore for the residents of Thibodaux for over ten years. This is the best time to remodel this space since downtown already has its wheels in motion with its new transformation. Lofts are the best solution because currently there is no sleek, modern living area for the people of Thibodaux to reside. Renters have a limited choice in where they live: old rent houses with very low square footage, dormitory living near Nicholls Campus, and small apartment complexes located in inconvenient areas of town that only provide 4-8 units per complex. I propose to add a third floor to this building; therefore, allowing loft living on the second and third floors. I plan on designing a cocktail lounge type bar located on the first floor and a small gym exclusively for the loft tenants.


The users of The Foundry lofts will be in their 20s, 30s, and possibly 40s. It will be a living space for college students attending the nearby Nicholls University, it will be a home for small families who are in transition from renting and owning, and it will be a residence for local business owners and the working force who want to live within walking distance to downtown.

Schematic Designs

Adjacency Matrix:

Bubble Diagrams:


Blocking Diagrams:

Stacking Diagrams:

Physical Requirements

- The square footage for the existing building is 18,533.
- With the addition of the third floor the total square footage of my proposed building is 33,674.

Physical Requirements by each floor:

FIRST FLOOR:
Areas & Square Footage for each:
- Circulation 1,500
- Elevators (2 with an equipment room, stacked) 160
- Fire Stairs (2 with remote locations, stacked) 240 each
- Lobby 1,200
- Bike Entrance 200
- Janitor Closet (Stacked) 50
- Mechanical Closet (Stacked) 100
- Electrical Closet (Stacked) 50
- Trash / Recycle Room (Stacked) 150
- Offices (2 separate rooms) 300 each
- Storage 100
- Cocktail Lounge 4,388
- ADA Bathrooms (One Men & One Women) 260 each
- Gym (tenants only) 1,000
TOTAL: 10,498

SECOND FLOOR:
Areas & Square Footage for each:
- Circulation 2,748
- Elevators (2 with an equipment room, stacked) 160
- Fire Stairs (2 with remote locations, stacked) 240 each
- Janitor Closet (Stacked) 50
- Mechanical Closet (Stacked) 100
- Electrical Closet (Stacked) 50
- Trash shoot (Stacked) 150
- Storage 100
- Studio Loft (4 each) 900
- One Bed Loft (3 each) 1,000
- Two Bed Loft (1) 1,200
TOTAL: 11,588


THIRD FLOOR:
Areas & Square Footage for each:
- Circulation 2,748
- Elevators (2 with an equipment room, stacked) 160
- Fire Stairs (2 with remote locations, stacked) 240 each
- Janitor Closet (Stacked) 50
- Mechanical Closet (Stacked) 100
- Electrical Closet (Stacked) 50
- Trash shoot (Stacked) 150
- Storage 100
- One Bed Loft (1) 1,000
- Two Bed Loft (5 each) 1,300-1,500
TOTAL: 11,588

Building support needs:

Biophysical Needs (for ALL areas):
- Cooling
- Heating
- Plumbing
- Illumination
- Power
- Access
- Separate HVAC system for Cocktail Lounge
- Separate HVAC compressors for each loft unit
- Automatic sprinklers for entire building
- Smoke detectors in every loft unit

Technical Needs:
- Individual lofts prewired for multimedia (Cable, Phone, and Internet)
- Secured parking with security gate for loft tenants located in rear and left side of building
- Security guards on duty who will be responsible for monitoring security lights and cameras of all public spaces - exterior and interior
- Individual lofts equipped with security for allowing tenant's guests to enter into the second and third floors
- Elevators are secured for tenant access only by card or key system
- Panic button incorporated into every loft that will notify security guard on duty in case of an emergency

Clients & Users

The Client for my project will be Michael Schexnayder, developer of Global Housing Solutions out of St. Tammany Parish. He recently bought The Foundry property in April 2008. There are plans for development that have not yet been finalized. He has planned to demolish the entire building; therefore, I want to propose salvaging as much of the current building structure as possible since it has been a part of Thibodaux's community for over 150 years.

- The main user group is the residents of The Foundry Lofts
- The sub user group will be the resident's guests
- Additional users include the general public who can go to the Cocktail Lounge on the first floor that is open to the public and any office/managerial/security/support employees of the building.

Existing Photos of the Building

Some existing photos of the building.

Here is a photo of the adjacent building that is in front of the Foundry Building

Here are some photos of the existing interior of the building:

Exisiting Conditions

The existing conditions of the building:
- closed to public
- abandoned building
- no electricity
- no plumbing
- no cooling / heating / HVAC systems
- gutted building without any remaining fixtures
- exterior needs to be remodeled
- roof has fallen apart due to hurricane damages
- later additions have been removed
- no functioning exterior windows / doors on exterior walls
- partial existing brickwork can be salvaged

Some influences on the site include:
- partial sidewalks around the building
- overgrown parking lot- Main access is on Jackson Street
- Small commercial building is located in the front right of The Foundry

Some special considerations I want to consider:
- It's a historical building in the city of Thibodaux, built back in 1849
- Has partial existing brickwork that I would like to reuse and add onto the exterior & interior finishes
- This building has been used as a two-story bar for almost 50 years now. First it was 'College Inn', then 'The Foundry', and most recently 'Jackson St. Junction'. This is why I want to incorporate a cocktail lounge into my design.

Function for The Foundry Lofts & Lounge:
- Add square footage to the existing footage of the building
- Transform the building to a rejuvenated mixed use area for the public (Cocktail Lounge) and exclusivley the tenants (The Foundry Lofts)
- Promote more pedestrians to visit Thibodaux's revitalized downtown area
- Provide a new, modern living space for the people of Thibodaux, something they have never seen before in the area

Field Measurements

Here are the existing field measurements that I have received from an engineer's site plan and from my own actual measurements taken on the site.


Here are my proposed floor plans for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors. I merged the old roof line of the original building and the later additions to the building with the field measurements I took. I am also adding a 3rd floor to the building that was not there before.

Site Environmental Factors

Here is a satellite map of Thibodaux, Louisiana

This is a road map of Thibodaux

This is a Thiboldaux Main Street District Boundary Map

And a detailed map of Thibodaux's Main Street District

And here is a detailed road map where The Foundry building is located

Here is a list of adjacent buildings that are within a 1 mile radius of the building:

- Carrot Patch Health Food Store

- Venetian Bar and Donut Shop
- Rouses Epicurean Supermarket
- Spahr’s Seafood Restaurant
- Demitasse Coffee & Tea House
- Bubba’s II Seafood Restaurant
- En Vie Restaurant and Wedding Receptions
- Peppers Pizzeria
- Piazza Bar
- Last Call Bar
- Rene’s Bar
- Rox’s Bar
- The Red Goose Lounge
- Andree’s Baby Boutique
- Bridal Corner
- Sugar Boutique
- Rush Boutique
- Retail Therapy Boutique
- Queeny’s Boutique & Gifts
- Joe Bilello Barber
- Sydney George Jewelers
- Leonard’s Photography Studio
- Capital One Bank
- Daily Comet Offices
- Pat’s Florists
- Durocher Veterinary Clinic
- White Star Cleaners
- Howard Johnson Hotel
- CVS Pharmacy
- Walgreens Pharmacy
- Parish of Lafourche Library
- La Belle Vie Day Spa
- St. John’s Episcopal Church and Cemetery

Here is a great map of the downtown area that shows where all those above businesses are located...in relation to The Foundry Building

The main entrance of the building faces East and the rear of the building faces West.
Main access to the building is from Jackson street.
The site includes an over grown parking lot located in the front of the building and a close building which was formerly the Dixie Glass building, that is located immediately behind The Foundry.

Intro

My name is Ellen Bourgeois, and I am a senior majoring in Interior Design at Louisiana State University.
For my senior capstone project, I am designing loft style apartments and a small cocktail lounge.
The building I chose is located in Thibodaux, Louisiana - my hometown. The building was once The Foundry, and housed many different bars. I love the location of this building because it is so close to Thibodaux's downtown area. I chose to create lofts in this building because I feel there is a great need for new places to live in Thibodaux, and it is within walking distance to many restaurants, bars, and boutiques.