PROJECT
fenestration
Curtainwall, Storefront Systems Protect And Enhance Preservation and adaptive reuse delivers new life to a New Orleans landmark.
W
alking along the bustling streets of New Orleans in the Roaring Twenties, local residents would marvel at the nine-story New Orleans Public Service Inc. (NOPSI) building. Located in the heart of the The Big
Easy’s central business district, the building was just two blocks away from Canal Street and the French Quarter. As they walked past the main entrance and entered the lobby
Top. The nine-story New Orleans Public Service Inc. (NOPSI) building was used years ago as a payment center for residents’ electric and gas bills. Photos: JT Blatty Above. Impact-resistant and blast-mitigating outside-glazed curtain wall was chosen to provide more exposed glass and to strengthen the building façade through the main wind-force-resisting system. The building’s farmto-table restaurant is aptly named “Public Service.”
to pay their electric and gas bills, residents stepped onto glossy terrazzo floors and were surrounded by 21-ft.-high vaulted ceilings and towering columns. In its heyday, the NOPSI building was often referred to as a “Jazz-Age Splendor,” an iconic slice of the NOLA business community’s rich history. Built in 1927, the building was home to the city’s utility company and streetcar operator. In the 1950s and 1960s, NOPSI converted most of the streetcar lines to bus services
commercialarchitecturemagazine.com
MARCH 2018
COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE
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