New Orleans House Salvaged
By Lindsey Roberts | Online Only | Jan. 29, 2010
The Dauphine Street house before its rehabilitation as a center for sustainability
Credit: Preservation Resource Center
A dilapidated camelback shotgun house in the Holy Cross Neighborhood of New Orleans has become the cornerstone of a project to rebuild the Katrina-damaged area in a greener, more sustainable way.
When the city handed the vacant and structurally unsafe building off to the Preservation Resource Center (PRC) in the fall of 2007, mold was growing, and the roof had caved into the building.
"It was in bad condition before the hurricane, and the hurricane only accelerated the condition," says Pam Bryan, director of the PRC's Operation Comeback, which is leading the house's restoration. The community decided to use the house as an example of how to rebuild sustainably.
Volunteers from Historic Green, a local nonprofit, helped dismantle the house in March of 2008. This March, they will help reassemble the old, now-refurbished materials, along with craftsmen from the London-based Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment.
"This building demonstrates that super-green buildings don't have to look like they are from outer space, and also that a historic building doesn't have to be completely devoid of green technology," says Historic Green co-founder Jeremy Knoll.
More than half of the old building materials will be reused, including its tile flooring.
"Some of the bricks and the wood are in such good condition that in many situations, the quality of this material outweighs that of new materials," Bryan says.
Scheduled to be completed this fall, the house will become the Center of Sustainable Engagement and Development, a site for lectures and workshops about best practices in preservation and energy efficiency. The PRC hopes it will attain LEED platinum certification.
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Comments
Submitted by Ellen Hanson at: April 17, 2010
This looks like a really cool project! And isn't it interesting that some of the original material is better than the new stuff that is available?
Submitted by Alnola at: February 9, 2010
Can you give an address or cross street? AJC1540@aol.com
Submitted by Brian at: February 7, 2010
If something like that can be saved... anything can be saved.
Submitted by Ax at: January 29, 2010
This is a nice rendering; however, it is misses the original use of "The Dauphine Street House" and its historical significants