"Celebrating the profound historg of North Louisiana as well as the indelible influence sports have had on the state, the new Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame and Regional History Museum in Natchitoches will house the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame - a collection of memorabilia donated by more than 250 outstanding sports figures in Louisiana - as well as the North Louisiana Regional History Museum.
Trahan Flrchitects' design for the museum unites these two seeminglg disparate programs in a stunning 28,000-square-foot contemporarg venue that recognizes each collection as part of the greater cultural historg of the state of Louisiana. The city of Natchitoches was founded in 1714 and is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase.
The museum's site overlooks an historic landscape - Cane River Lake at the boundary of the Red River valley - and Trahan Architects has embraced this landscape in its design. The firm derived the building's geometry from the area's distinctive geomorphology and aspects of river hydromorphology.
The design concept was guided by the fluid shapes of the braided corridors of river channels separated by interstitial masses of land - this idea becomes the organizing principle for visitor circulation and gallery arrangement. The locus of the interior is the atrium, which will serve as a place for community gatherings and special events, as well as general spatial orientation.
The atrium will present an atmosphere of calm and reflection; clad in light-colored cast-stone panels, the space will be washed with natural light from all sides and above. The design of this space will promote easy circulation between the two program elements.
The museum's exterior will be clad in wood planks - a reference to the region's rich timber legacy. The spacing and manipulation of the boards control light, views and ventilation and create a sense of porosity, articulation, and texture that will animate the façade and mediate the building's scale.
The design is informed by the historic architecture and materials of the region, while presenting a contemporary architectural language to the remarkable city of Natchitoches." Description from architects
A complex design, generated with the help of BIM technology, reflects the disparate subjects in one fluid structure encased within a locally inspired facade. Trahan Architects derived the buildings geometry from the area’s “distinctive geomorphology and aspects of river hydromorphology”.
The flowing interior emerges at the entry, contrasting with the patinated exterior shell, inviting the visitor within. The dynamic foyer reflects the carving of the ancient river’s fluvial geomorphology. Sculpted out of 1,150 digitally milled cast stone panels, the shaped surfaces seamlessly integrate all building systems. Washed during the day by natural light from above, they also serve as screens for films and exhibits, further merging content and context.
A copper panel and louver system creates the exterior rainscreen by referencing historical and local building skins that ventilate space and mediate light. Pleating of the exterior skin is caused by simple rotations of the flat panels, allowing the skin to animate the façade, create texture, mediate the building scale and create an articulation reminiscent of ornamentation. Louvers form at windows and porches through simply pinching at the tips of the pleats, mediating light and shadow, controlling views and providing ventilation, similar to the jalousies found in regional architecture.
Architects: Trahan Architects
Specialty Steel Consultant/Engineer: David Kufferman PE
Geometry and Detailing Consultant: Method Design
Method Design Team: Reese J Campbell, Demetrios A Comodromos, David Stasiuk
BIM Manager and Technology Consultant: CASE Inc
Area: 28,000 Sf
Cost: $12.6 Million
Year: 2013
Client: Advanced Cast Stone / David Kufferman PE