Historic Restoration

Owner:

Louise S. McGehee School

Design:

Jahncke Architects

Size:

22,000 Square Feet

Budget:

$1,800,000

Completion:

September, 2001

Louise S. McGehee School

Louise S. McGehee School enlisted Woodward Design+Build to give the 22,000 square foot mansion a $1.8 million dollar renovation and facelift. The project began with the rework of the land around the mansion to facilitate the drainage of the over six feet of annual New Orleans rain. New twelve-inch drainage lines and catch basins were used with hydrographic swalling to accomplish this task.

With site work completed, the exterior stucco and wood repair began. Architectural details, such as plaster dentals, Doric columns, and twelve-foot high cypress shutters had to be repaired. A team of fifteen painters followed with ladders, buckets, and brushes.

Interior work for this project was focused on the mansion ground and main floors. The ground floor was completely gutted. After the demolition, the only things left to view inside the exterior walls were structural columns and dirt. The summer work included new floor slabs with imbedded electrical/data conduits, new walls and floors, fourteen new air conditioning systems with associated duct work, new custom made wood doors and windows, refurbished student bathrooms, and completely new electrical services, wiring, and fire alarm systems. With the addition of lockers and shelves, the transformation has resulted in new locker rooms for the upper class girls, a bookstore, staff offices, and new library stacks.

The mansion’s main floor also required the removal of all old electrical wiring and plumbing, complete repainting, refurbishing of original chandeliers, and new carpet. The main floor is now used for special class activities, quiet study rooms, and the librarian’s desk. A new steel and brass staircase joins the ground and main floors.