LUMCON’s “Blue Works” Houma Campus

The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) was established “to promote, facilitate, and conduct research and educational collaboration among Louisiana’s universities relevant to the sustainability of coastal and marine environments of the Gulf of Mexico”. The urgency of that mission statement is underlined by the decision of LUMCON to establish a new campus 65 km inland. They selected a site in the industrial area of Houma, alongside a shipbuilding yard on the Intracoastal Waterway. A hundred years from now, the sea is likely to have swallowed the existing campus in Cocodrie to the south and advanced to this point.

The New Orleans firm EskewDumezRipple was selected to masterplan the campus and design Blue Works, a 2,370-sq. m complex of research labs, classrooms and assembly spaces. The goal was to create a productive work environment for scientists and students and a showcase for visitors, especially school groups. At a difficult time for scientific research in the U.S.A., the importance of this visionary project cannot be overstated.

The client team made it clear that they wanted the building to “feel like science alive”, not a generic shed. For the architects, the challenge was to match the scale of a large research ship and neighboring warehouse without overwhelming users and create an expressive form on a tight budget. Prior to construction, the design was scaled back by 30% as an economy while retaining its original character. The big move was to crank a linear block and divide it down the middle....

Proceed with your preferred purchase option to continue reading

Digital

5.49 €

Add to cart

Printed

15.00 €

Add to cart

Subscription

From 42.00 €

Choose subscription