Satellite Center Garners Praise from Education Officials

ABC 26 narrator, Michael Hill facilitated a visit to the Satellite Center in Luling, Louisiana by Don Trahan, Louisiana Department of Education; Bese Members, Penny Dastugue, Glenny Lee Buquet, Jim Garvey; Senator Ben Neves, Chairman of Education Committee; State Representative from Norco, Gary Smith, JR. The officials interviewed seniors Mason Noote and Ryan Cannon from the applied science program, Destiny Bridges and La’Nai Joseph from nursing and Dalton Alfortish from graphic design programs. The consensus of opinion articulated by the students interviewed was of excitement. Some of the comments from the visiting officials:

Penny Dastugue, BESE Member. “I am really excited about what is going on in St. Charles Parish. Rodney Lafont is a great leader. He and his board determine what their students need and give it to them. He doesn’t get any more dollars than other districts around the state and yet he seems to be spending it where it needs to be spent. He told me today that his dropout rate is about 2% -that alone tells the whole story.”

Glenny Lee Buquet, BESE Member. “It is important for the public to see this. So often people will say; ‘You are throwing money at education. You are not really doing anything.’ This is a perfect example of how to use your funding well.”

Senator Ben Neves, Chairman of Education Committee. "St. Charles the Parish School Board has done really well……. this will become a pilot state wide and St. Charles Parish has set the tone for many across the state to follow.”

Jim Garvey, BESE Member. “I was surprised at the relative low cost of setting this place up. The money went a long way.”

State Representative Gary Smith Jr. “It’s a better use of the dollars. It is so great to see the students engaged and happy to be in school.”

Vickie Krutzer, Monroe City School Board. “This has been so exciting. In northeast Louisiana we desperately need career option programs for our students. It is so exciting to see the board and the superintendent partnering with business.”

The Satellite Technology High School was the collaborative effort of a diverse group resulting in a wonderful structure and educational tool for the growing community. The team led by St. Charles Superintendent, Dr. Rodney Lafon concentrated on career paths that were projected to show the greatest growth over the next decade. The design hinged on a truly comprehensive planning process. The school was conceived to focus on specific curriculum not available in the traditional classroom setting. Glenn C. Higgins, project architect, (Principal in Charge at Glenn C. Higgins Assoc. prior to joining HMS Architects) was invited to be a part of the planning team from its inception. The initial process began with education studies, national research and local industry trends.

The design challenge of the Satellite Center was two-fold. The first task was to create innovative spaces that best met the requirements of each academic program, but also to integrate the unique building demands of each program into one cohesive structure. With functional needs varying from sound-proof recording studios to fully operational professional-kitchens, achieving the appropriate building materials and a strategic floor plan were paramount to our success.


Watch the video from ABC 26

More information about the Satellite Center

HMS Architects lead design effort to renovate Our Lady of Lourdes

HMS Architects was chosen to lead the design work for the renovation of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Violet, Louisiana. The groundbreaking on May 12, 2009 was attended by an large crowd of enthusiastic and deeply grateful official and parishioners. The original church had been dedicated in August of 1998 only to be flooded seven years later with 10 feet of flood waters from Hurricane Katrina. The parishioners have been gathering for worship services in the neighboring parish of St. Bernard Church.

Photo by William McCartney: The Our Lady of Lourdes Rebuilding Committee is shown with church and parish officals at the ground breaking ceremony on May 12, 2009. From left: Scott Giroir, Peggy Schifano, Hector Perez, Teddy Diecidue, the Rev. John Arnone, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes; St. Bernard Parish Councilman Wayne Landry, Mary Ann Bazile, St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, Phyllis Diecidue, St. Bernard School Board Member Perry Nicosia, Andre Villere, architect from the Archdiocese of New Orleans,; Mike Buisson from HMS Architects, Liz Lacomb, Building coordinator for the Archdiocese of New Orleans; Keith Steger from HMS Architects.

More information at the St. Bernard Parish website

HMS Architects Takes Pride In Their Design of the New Marriott Residence Inn

HMS Architects, a New Orleans- based firm, has designed the latest addition to the Marriott family, the new Residence Inn by Marriott at Northpark Business Park in Covington, LA
Residence Inn by Marriott is the quality tier of the extended stay lodging segment, with suites offering a residential environment for longer length of stays of five or more nights.

All 125-suite guestrooms feature full kitchens, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and other high end finishes throughout.

HMS has taken the newest prototypical design for Residence Inn, and manipulated the spaces to fit on a challenging site in an existing wooded business park. Care was taken to preserve the natural landscape, and blend the building in with its surroundings by adding a large assortment of native plants to the site.

Business technology has been integrated throughout the hotel, and meeting space provided with over 1400sf of custom space with a high tech tele-video conferencing system, wireless internet, and multiple data ports for meetings.

A spacious lobby was designed with a multitude of natural light, library niches for small semi-private gatherings, a large communal breakfast table with data ports, and an on-site business center.

HMS Bolsters Its Green Building Credentials, Again

HMS Interior Designer, Amy Savoie, has successfully completed the LEED Accredited Professional test for Commercial Interiors through the Green Building Certification Institute. Her achievement propels HMS Architects to rank among the most qualified LEED savvy architectural firms in Louisiana. Amy joins Michael Vega, Nate Walker and Scott Welty at HMS in the pursuit of green building practices as LEED Accredited professionals.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, sets specific benchmarks and standards to define and measure the environmentally friendly aspects of buildings. A certified LEED AP can help to streamline the process, having demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the process and the strategies of making a LEED Certified Building.

More about LEED projects done by HMS
More about LEED APs at GBCI
More about LEED at USGBC

Amy Passes NCIDQ Test, Earns Licensure

Amy Diecidue Savoie, an Interior Designer with HMS Architects, recently passed the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) Examination and earned the prestigious NCIDQ Certificate. With this, she also became a licensed Interior Designer with the Louisiana Office of the Governor State Board of Examiners of Interior Designers on 2/13/09.

Passage of the Examination and earning NCIDQ credential signifies that Mrs. Savoie has met the standards for education, experience and examination for interior designers in North America. A minimum of six years of combined education and experience is required before being eligible to take the practice-based Examination. The NCIDQ Examination is a rigorous, three-part examination requiring examinees to demonstrate competence in a wide variety of aspects that affect the safety of the interior environment. The examination covers programming, schematic design, design development, contract documents, contract administration and professional practice, among many other related topics such as codes, sustainability and universal design.

NCIDQ has long been the standard to identify those interior designers who are uniquely qualified to protect the public health, safety and welfare, explains Deborah Steinmetz, 2009 NCIDQ President. The NCIDQ certificate is the mark of a professional, and this credential is what every user of a space should look for when choosing or working with an Interior Designer.

HMS Bolsters Its Green Building Credentials

HMS Intern Architect, Michael Vega, has successfully completed the LEED Accredited Professional test through the Green Building Certification Institute. His achievement propels HMS Architects to rank among the most qualified LEED savvy architectural firms in Louisiana. Michael joins Nate Walker and Scott Welty at HMS in the pursuit of green building practices as LEED Accredited professionals.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, sets specific benchmarks and standards to define and measure the environmentally friendly aspects of buildings. A certified LEED AP can help to streamline the process, having demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the process and the strategies of making a LEED Certified Building.

More about LEED projects done by HMS

More about LEED APs at GBCI

More about LEED at USGBC

HMS Converts to BIM

Since June, HMS has been pioneering the conversion to a Building Information Modeling System (BIM), which is replacing Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) as a drawing tool. This shift is comparable to the shift from hand-drafting to CAD, which brings with it added speed, efficiency, and accuracy to the client.



Whereas CAD is simply a computerized system of lines, BIM uses a fully modeled digital building, from which the lines of the drawings are derived automatically. This allows us to integrate traditional plans and sections with 3D views, with perspective views, even to sophisticated computer environmental simulation, and offer these to the client in a comparatively reduced timeframe.

It also can integrate with contractors, and estimators, during construction, and building operations after completion.

HMS is ahead of the curve in this transition, as we are the first company we know of in the area to convert to this new technology, and have been using it with several projects already.


More about the New Basin Canal Lighthouse, designed in BIM
More about the Andrew H Wilson School, rendered using BIM