Tracie Ashe
Partner
practis (Formerly Studio WTA)
Practis is a multifaceted, woman-owned architecture studio based in New Orleans. Founded in the early ’90s as Wayne Troyer Architects, the firm evolved into studioWTA in 2013 to reflect its collaborative nature. Ten years later, practis has emerged as the newest iteration of the studio—led by longtime team members Tracie Ashe and Julie Babin—grown out of a desire to further solidify the firm’s ethos of collaborative, passion-driven work inspired by a true, synergistic spirit. The name itself is reflective of the actively innovative nature of our craft — always practicing, always learning.
Most Excited About in the Coming Year
In the coming year, we’re excited for the completion of a new construction hotel in Bywater, construction of new residential dormitories on Tulane’s Uptown campus, renovations to the Harry Tompson Center (a facility that provides support services to our unhoused New Orleans community, which our firm designed in 2006), and a conversion of the Alois J. Binder Bakery complex for JAMNOLA’s new immersive exhibit experience. Beyond New Orleans, practis was awarded the contract to complete the final phase of design for New Jersey’s 9/11 Memorial, “Empty Sky.” Originally designed in 2004 by longtime practis colleague Jessica Jamroz, this significant monument project is scheduled for construction in early 2024.
Biggest Challenge Facing Your Industry
The biggest immediate, local challenge is financial burden. Undertaking projects is always costly, but it’s spiraled in recent years. Along with higher interest rates and rising prices of real estate, property insurance, and flood insurance, we now have dramatic increases in property taxes across the city. Add to this the cost of many building materials — which rose aggressively starting in 2020 and will likely never return to their pre-pandemic levels. Taken together, these make projects extremely expensive for everyone: homeowners, small business owners, larger developers.
The most important global industry challenge is addressing sustainability and building performance efficiency as we see a significant acceleration of the climate crisis. Cost savings decisions, pressured by financials, impact the ability of designers to address this, as less expensive (less environmentally responsible) alternatives are substituted for better and more sustainable materials and systems.
