In 2021, Harry’s Ace Hardware at 1111 Foucher Street in Uptown New Orleans closed its doors after 63 years in business. The day the leasing sign went up, Andy Sternad, principal and business unit leader at Waggonner & Ball, called to schedule a visit. The architecture firm had been growing, and finding a new office space was becoming more important.
“There is no other space like it Uptown — historic, large, open plan, and on a vibrant stretch of Magazine Street — so the appeal was immediate,” he said. The 1920s building once housed a Jefferson Motors dealership.
After joining Moffatt & Nichol as an in-house design studio in 2023, Waggonner & Ball projected it would outgrow its previous office at 2200 Prytania St. — the firm’s professional home for 55 years — by 2025.
Not only did many of the staff members live within walking distance of the Harry’s Ace Hardware building, but the space offered something rare — a character-defining industrial space that could accommodate a collaborative, light-filled workplace.
The renovation involved a unique partnership between two architecture firms that utilized the benefits of historic tax credits. Trapolin-Peer Architects handled the core and shell restoration, including the exterior façade, roof and windows, new elevator and fire stairs, while Waggonner & Ball designed its own interior buildout across the second and third floors. Verdad Realty, the developer, also maintains offices on the second floor, designed by Trapolin-Peer.
“The original intent was to provide a white-box space for a generic future office tenant,” noted Matthew Buyer, project architect at Trapolin-Peer. “When we found out our friends at Waggonner & Ball were going to move in and design their buildout, we were thrilled because there was already a lot of respect and mutual reverence between our two firms.”
According to Raymond Armant, senior architect at Trapolin-Peer, the division of responsibilities was straightforward, with his firm focusing on exterior rehabilitation, common spaces and circulation. Challenges arose when Waggonner & Ball requested modifications to shared spaces after construction was already underway.
“Luckily, as two very experienced firms, we were successfully able to navigate incorporating some of the tenant requests,” said Armant.
The collaboration also extended beyond contractual obligations.
“[Trapolin-Peer] did a great job and we appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with them where possible, especially on the design of the lobby stairs and a shared material palette throughout the building,” said Sternad.
Meanwhile, the building’s automotive past presented both opportunities and constraints.
The most dramatic preservation decision centered on the original car elevator.
“A space like an elevator shaft would typically be filled in on each floor to make more leasable space,” explained Sternad. “But as soon as we walked in, we realized we had to keep it open. When you walk in the space, there is an immediate instinct to look up. Your eye follows the rails.”
To accentuate this feeling — and the triple-height volume — the team preserved most of the vertical rail and track, along with the machine equipment at the top and the exposed pulleys that operated the elevator doors on the second floor. Only the cables and cab required removal.
“We also inserted a new operable window to the outside terrace and an operable interior window at the third floor, [for communication] between spaces,” said Sternad. “At night, up-lights at each level, including the mechanical penthouse, maintain the sense of volume.”
The adaptable space currently functions as a library and breakout meeting room.
A deep respect for the rich history of the space guided both firms’ decisions throughout the project — from preserving the flexibility of the open floor plan and access to daylight on all sides, to maintaining historic features for future occupants. The character-defining exposed structure and brick were preserved, with original windows carefully restored.
“We see ourselves as stewards of the space, especially as the first commercial occupants of the upper floors,” said Sternad. “The building was here before us and will live on after us. It’s an icon of the neighborhood.”
Another challenge, however, involved the wood floors, which had been damaged by significant oil spots that hailed back to the building’s original tenant. The firms decided to lay new wood flooring over the existing floor—the best solution for fire separation and acoustics between levels.
They did, however, leave the black paint work on the perimeter surfaces of brick that rose about 3 feet from the floor.
“We were told this was to mask exhaust marks from the cars that were stored above the dealership,” explained Sternad.
Both firms made distinct design choices within shared guidelines. Cornisha Lyons, project designer at Trapolin-Peer, pointed to exposed joists as one example.
“In Verdad Realty’s space on the second floor, we decided not to apply a painted coating to the exposed joist,” she said. “In the Waggoner & Ball space, you will find the exposed joists are treated with a light whitewash.” The same wood flooring appears throughout but laid diagonally in Waggonner & Ball’s space and in a running bond in Verdad’s — both matching the directionality of the original wood floors.
The building’s abundant glazing —14-foot-by-6-foot windows surrounding the structure on all sides — also created unexpected challenges.
“There is almost too much daylight, so control and balance are key,” said Sternad. Interior windows help balance light throughout the day, and artificial lighting mitigates glare in surprising areas. About two-thirds of the restored windows can open, allowing natural ventilation.
The space now accommodates 28 workstations (with capacity for 42) that currently house 24 full-time, in-person staff and four remote staff who frequently travel to New Orleans. Six conference rooms, three virtual call rooms, two shared private offices and an open kitchen support the firm’s collaborative culture, along with a workshop for model making, plotting and 3D printing. The design reflects Waggonner & Ball’s flat organizational structure, where everyone has the same open workstation setup, and shared private offices are available to anyone when needed.
There’s also a new outdoor terrace that is supported on the roof of an existing annex building below.
Having this outdoor space was important to Waggonner & Ball.
“We were fortunate to have a private courtyard at our previous office on Prytania Street, and it became a central part of our office culture, from daily use for lunch to gatherings with partners and clients for happy hour,” explained Sternad. “At our new terrace, we plan to use the space for material testing — both building products and plant materials — [so it will be] something of an architectural sculpture garden one day. Of course, it will also allow us to eat and gather together and maintain that aspect of our office culture.”
Waggonner & Ball
1111 Foucher St. // 524-5308 // wbae.com
Quick Look
Number of Years in Operation: 55 (predecessor firm founded 1970)
Square Footage: 10,000
Number of Employees: 28 (24 in-person)
Persons in Charge: Andy Sternad, Kelli Cunningham, John Kleinschmidt, Rami Diaz
Architecture: Waggonner & Ball (primary tenant space build out) and Trapolin-Peer Architects (core and shell restoration, and tenant spaces)
