The first outcome of PAYETTE’s Downtown Campus Master Space Plan is the renovation of 550,000 SF within one of New Orleans’ most historic buildings: Charity Hospital, a 1938 National Historic Landmark. Abandoned in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina compromised the building’s life support and life safety systems, Charity Hospital will be restored and renovated as a mixed-use development project including academic and research space, making Tulane the anchor tenant in this important revitalization project. Historic elements of the building will be restored in the redevelopment of the building, and a National Park Service and State Historic Preservation Office (SPHO) review process will be part of the design development and approvals process.
Tulane University
Charity Hospital Renovation & Renewal for the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (SPHTM) and the School of Medicine (SOM)
Project Statistics
LOCATION
New Orleans, LA / United States
completed
2028 (estimated)
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE
550,000 GSF
program components
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (SPHTM) and the School of Medicine (SOM)
TEAM
Sarah Lindenfeld, AIA, NOMA
Principal-in-Charge
Jeff DeGregorio, AIA, LEED AP
Design Principal
Robert Pasersky, AIA
Design Principal
Tom Simister, AIA, LEED AP
Lead Planner
Abigail Klima, AIA
Planner / Programmer
Stephanie Balsam, AIA
Project Manager
Craig Mutter, AIA
Project Architect
Charity will become the hub for Tulane’s Downtown Campus, acting as an interdisciplinary engine for the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and for the School of Medicine. The new renovation will provide gathering and study space for students and faculty, a coffee bar and café, as well as public event space, gallery and exhibit space, classrooms, as well as research and office space.
Key planning drivers
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (SPHTM)
Tulane University at Charity will serve as the primary home for the SPHTM including research, teaching and office space, and will:
- Provide capacity for 20% faculty and staff growth over the next ten years.
- Provide capacity for up to 850 in-person students.
- Support growth of the on-line student population and programs.
- Provide space for research groups based on average research team sizes as provided by SPHTM departments and confirmed with school leadership.
School of Medicine (SOM)
Charity will provide research expansion space with a blend of wet and dry labs as well as core facilities on multiple floors. A vibration study identified locations on upper levels for electron and confocal microscopes as well as other sensitive research equipment. The lower two floors will provide the public gathering, commons and classroom spaces, while the upper floors will provide capacity for office and research spaces including wet lab research space for the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and for the School of Medicine.
Tulane envisions this renovation as an opportunity to create an iconic and memorable place that will unite and define the character of Tulane’s Downtown Campus, restoring Charity as a hub and center of gravity to both the downtown neighborhood and the vibrant Tulane community.
