EskewDumezRipple's New Studio
After more than 25 years in our previous space, EskewDumezRipple has found a new home at 400 Lafayette Street, in the heart of New Orleans’ Central Business District. Spanning 15,298 SF, the new studio marks an exciting next chapter—one that reflects our firm’s evolving space needs.
LOCATION
SIZE
YEAR OF COMPLETION
SERVICES
CERTIFICATIONs
Collaborators
Designed through the same lens we bring to our clients’ projects, the studio embodies a holistic approach to workplace design, one that prioritizes comfort, flexibility, and connection. Drawing on our collective expertise designing offices across industries, we created a space that supports varied work styles, fosters collaboration, and celebrates the craft of design itself.
More than just a place to work, the studio represents an investment in our people and the creative energy that drives us forward.
Our Former Office Environment
For more than 25 years, our studio occupied the 31st floor of 365 Canal Street, a space that, while once fitting, no longer reflected how we work today. Limited daylight, aging systems, and poor acoustics made collaboration and focus equally challenging, while the high-rise setting created a physical and cultural disconnect from the city below.
As our practice evolved, so did our priorities: we needed a healthier, more flexible environment that would draw people back together, support creativity and well-being, and better embody the collaborative spirit of EskewDumezRipple.
The Space We Transformed
Located on the third floor of a building built in the Warehouse District, the future home of our studio began as a patchwork of small tenant suites, dark, enclosed, and divided by partitions that blocked natural light. Dated finishes and poor acoustics made the space feel disconnected from its potential. Yet beneath those layers, we saw opportunity in its high ceilings, exposed brick, and generous windows waiting to be uncovered. We sought to transform the space while celebrating the building’s industrial character and supporting the creative rhythm of modern practice.
Engagement & Surveying Our Firm Members
Programming and stakeholder engagement drive decision-making on every project—and our new studio was no exception. We began the design process by surveying firm members to understand what worked, and what didn’t, in our previous workspace. Through workshops, brainstorming sessions, and open forums, we gathered input on everything from lighting and acoustics to collaboration zones and communal spaces.
This collective effort ensured that the design reflected how we truly work—balancing the need for focus with opportunities for connection. The process surfaced recurring priorities: improved ergonomics, access to daylight and greenery, flexible meeting areas, quiet zones, and a sense of equity across teams. These insights directly informed the spatial strategies that now define our new office environment, creating a space designed by and for our people.
Entry Sequence
Previously divided among multiple tenants, the third-floor space was reimagined to create a unified and open studio. Upon arrival, visitors once stepped out of the elevator only to face a solid wall, an abrupt and disconnected introduction to the third floor. Removing that barrier transformed the vestibule into a generous entry sequence that immediately reveals the energy of the studio beyond.
Anchored by our welcome desk and administrative team, the new entry offers a clear visual connection into the workspace, inviting guests to experience the openness, collaboration, and creativity that define our practice.
Screen Wall
Serving as the first visual moment upon entry, the Screen Wall establishes a threshold between the public and private zones of the studio. Its sculpted rhythm of wood blocks and subtle transparency invites curiosity, hinting at the creative energy that fills the space beyond. Designed and fabricated in-house, the wall celebrates EskewDumezRipple’s spirit of collaboration and craft. What began as an internal design competition quickly became a firm-wide effort, engaging designers from across disciplines to transform reclaimed materials from our previous Canal Street office into something entirely new. From certain vantage points, the composition resolves into the familiar “+” symbol from the firm’s logo, a quiet nod to collective authorship. From others, it reads as a shifting field of texture and light. Like the work that happens within the studio, its beauty lies in the interplay of many hands coming together to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
Inspiration & Reuse
The Screen Wall began as part of an internal design competition exploring how the firm’s new studio could embody its collaborative spirit.
Titled The Plus is Us, the winning concept took inspiration from the “+” in our logo: a symbol of the collective contributions that make our work possible.
Drawing on this idea, the wall’s design transforms reclaimed materials from our previous Canal Street office into a new centerpiece for the entry sequence, illustrating both the continuity of our history and our commitment to reuse and resourcefulness.
Fabrication & Installation
The Screen Wall’s design is built from 26 vertical steel rods anchored at the floor and ceiling, each supporting 20 reclaimed wooden blocks. The rotation of each block is controlled by a custom 3D-printed joint, whose alignment collectively produces the wall’s subtle wave effect. At eye level, openings reveal framed views through the EDR “plus” logo and toward the studio’s entry.
Fabricated entirely in-house, the installation became a full-studio effort—designers repurposed plywood desktops from the former office, cut, milled, and refinished into more than 1,100 modular pieces. The result is a system that merges digital precision with handcraft, exemplifying the collaboration and care that define our practice.
Balancing Focus & Collaboration
Our experience designing modern workplaces has deepened our understanding of the delicate balance between focus and collaboration. Today’s employees seek flexibility, connection, comfort, and variety—qualities that support both personal well-being and collective productivity. Access to natural light plays a vital role, enhancing alertness, mood, and overall wellness throughout the workday.
Within our studio, a mix of collaboration-focused areas—such as meeting tables and pin-up walls—exists alongside quieter zones for individual concentration. This variety gives team members agency over how and where they work.
Workstations for Focus
Each workstation in the studio is designed to support both comfort and adaptability. Operable standing desks, multiple monitors, and task chairs with customizable settings allow each person to tailor their setup for optimal performance. Personal storage, task lighting, and pin-up boards encourage organization and self-expression.
Thoughtful details—such as cord management, accessible power, and sound-absorbing materials—create meaningful daily comfort and reduce distractions. Smaller environmental considerations, including dividing the office into multiple HVAC zones, offer more precise temperature control and enhance overall comfort throughout the day.
The Neutral Ground
Named after the term New Orleanians use for the grassy median dividing city streets, the Neutral Ground embodies the same sense of shared space and community connection. At the heart of our studio, it serves as a flexible hub for everyday life, where people gather for lunch, meet over coffee, or take a quiet break with a book.
Our Everyday Gathering Place
Blending hospitality and workplace design, the space balances warmth and utility. Large operable windows fill the room with natural light, while roller shades allow for comfort and control throughout the day. A fully equipped galley kitchen with dual dishwashers, refrigerators, and generous storage supports daily use, alongside a dedicated coffee station and sustainable waste systems for recycling and composting.
Designed for both in-person and hybrid collaboration, the Neutral Ground is also equipped with integrated A/V and sound systems for seamless firm-wide meetings and events, a necessity to connect with our other studio members in DC and remotely.
Open, adaptable, and deeply inviting, the Neutral Ground is where the rhythms of studio life come together. It is our everyday “common ground” for connection, comfort, and celebration.
In-Studio Fabrication
The large piece of art hanging in the Neutral Ground space is a framed, hand-drawn depiction of the city of New Orleans, discovered by the design team while cleaning out our former Canal Street office in preparation for the move. Drawn by H. Schultz, the team recognized it as a reflection of the creativity and craftsmanship that have long defined the firm’s history—and knew it deserved a prominent place in the new studio.
With final dimensions of 10’-10” x 3’-2”, the artwork is supported by a custom plywood subframe, designed much like a vierendeel truss, then clad with masonite. The drawing is mounted with linen tape and protected with acrylic. The frame itself is crafted from solid white oak, planed and laminated to achieve the required cross-section. All joinery is concealed using lamello biscuit joints and pocket-hole screws, allowing the entire piece to be fully disassembled, an intentional “design for disassembly” gesture that reflects our commitment to craft, reuse, and thoughtful detailing.
Materials Lab
Integral to the success of our projects are the materials we design with. Our Materials Lab is woven directly into the studio environment—enhancing visibility, accessibility, and emphasizing the importance of healthy material choices. Every material is vetted using our Healthy Materials Toolkit, developed by a previous Research Fellowship. The system’s organization allows designers to easily store, update, and locate samples among nearly 20,000 options spanning both architecture and interiors, ensuring that thoughtful, responsible selections remain at the core of every project.
Meeting Spaces
Designed to support both in-person and hybrid collaboration, our meeting spaces are equipped with technology and amenities that make communication effortless. Each room connects seamlessly to Microsoft Teams, with digital displays that show daily schedules and real-time availability for easy coordination.
To ensure smooth communication across locations, each space features advanced audio/visual systems calibrated for clarity of sound and image, allowing team members in our Washington, D.C. studio, external partners, and those working remotely to fully engage. Even in our largest gathering area, the Neutral Ground, which accommodates nearly fifty people, participants can be clearly seen and heard from anywhere in the room.
Comfort and environmental quality were equally prioritized. Operable shades and individual thermostats give users control over light and temperature. Ergonomic seating, layered with plantings cared for by our in-studio Plant Squad, enhances comfort and well-being—creating meeting environments that are as pleasant as they are productive.
WELL Platinum Certification
Our new studio was designed around the belief that a healthy environment supports creative, connected, and resilient people—and that commitment has now been formally recognized through WELL Platinum Certification, the highest level of achievement under the WELL Building Standard. Every decision, from daylight and acoustics to material selection and air quality, was guided by this evidence-based framework for measuring how design directly impacts health and well-being.
The result is a workplace that balances sustainability with comfort and performance: abundant natural light, fresh air, healthy materials, and flexible spaces that support both movement and focus. Operable windows, plants, and views of the city foster daily connections to nature, while the Neutral Ground café, phone booths, and dedicated wellness rooms provide places to recharge throughout the day. Achieving WELL Platinum affirms that our studio not only meets the most rigorous wellness criteria, but embodies the way we want to live and work—healthy, inclusive, and inspired.
Read more about our WELL Certification process and view our full Certification Guide here.
Nutrition Label for our New Orleans studio
