Lafayette Parish Tax Assessor Office

The architect and client envisioned renovating an existing building to serve as the new Lafayette Tax Assessor’s office. Their design goals focused on enhancing employee safety, updating essential elements for the building’s longevity, and improving its visual appeal. This building featured a spacious atrium-style lobby, which Vermilion Architects proposed to transform into partially enclosed offices protected by a ballistic wall for security, while also serving as a public community space. Balancing public and private areas is a significant concern for the client due to the building’s location and intended use.

The primary lobby of the building features intricate millwork detailing. Stained wood is prevalent throughout the project, alongside various existing floor finishes. Certain areas of the building contained multiple layers of flooring materials, necessitating removal down to the slab to construct new infill walls. Additionally, asbestos was discovered in a section of the interior, requiring removal and replacement. Due to the building’s previous function as a bank, three vaults are present in locations now incorporated into the design.

The MEP Consultant responsible for this project is Associated Design Group (ADG), collaborating closely with Vermilion Architects throughout the entire process. The engineers conducted a thorough evaluation of the building’s current electrical infrastructure and outlined rewiring plans for the new infill offices being designed. They also assessed the lighting fixtures, determining whether replacing bulbs in existing fixtures or purchasing new ones would be more economical. Given the building’s former use as a bank, they opted to retain the underground mechanical/electrical space previously utilized for the bank’s drive-thru teller systems. However, they ensured to cap this system where necessary to preserve it for potential future use.