LOT-EK Completes Shipping Container Schoolhouse for The Black School in New Orleans' Seventh Ward
The Black School, a community arts initiative in New Orleans' Seventh Ward since 2016, has unveiled a new facility called The Black Schoolhouse. This $1.7 million project, crafted by LOT-EK with collaboration from Whawn Allen Architects, has received support from organizations like the Mellon Foundation. Founded by Joseph and Shani Peters Cuillier, who moved from New York in 2021, the schoolhouse draws inspiration from the historic Rosenwald Schools. It features innovative designs, including shipping containers, and comprises various community-oriented spaces, such as a makerspace, library, classrooms, and a kitchen. Mayor Helena Moreno has endorsed the project, highlighting its community-focused planning.
Key facts
- The Black School, founded in 2016, opened The Black Schoolhouse in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans.
- The 2,000-square-foot building was designed by New York-based LOT-EK, with Whawn Allen Architects and Construction Consultants as architect of record.
- The project cost approximately $1.7 million and was supported by the Mellon Foundation among other funders.
- Founders Joseph Cuillier and Shani Peters Cuillier started the organization in New York before relocating to Cuillier's native New Orleans in 2021.
- The structure is built from stacked shipping containers finished in an orange-brown color, with upper container bays folding open to double as awnings.
- The program came out of an 18-month community design process including door-to-door surveys, workshops, and neighborhood design charrettes.
- The building houses a makerspace, computer lab, community kitchen, meditation room, library, garden, classrooms, and gallery.
- LOT-EK has applied its container-based approach to projects for the Whitney Museum, MoMA, and the Guggenheim.
Entities
Artists
- Joseph Cuillier
- Shani Peters Cuillier
- Helena Moreno
- PHIPS
- Neil Alexander
Institutions
- The Black School
- LOT-EK
- Whawn Allen Architects and Construction Consultants
- Mellon Foundation
- Whitney Museum
- MoMA
- Guggenheim
- The Black School: Design Studio
- Rosenwald Schools
- Freedom Schools
- Black Panther Liberation Schools
- designboom
Locations
- New Orleans
- Seventh Ward
- New York
- United States
- 1660 N. Roman Street
- New York City
- Louisiana