This project includes a new educational building for the Coushatta tribe, approximately 12,000 GSF. The building will house administrative offices, a tech lab, classrooms, a commercial kitchen, a break room, storage, and multipurpose rooms. An exterior talking circle area will be located adjacent to and east of the building.

Design Architect: Full Circle Indigenous Planning + Design

Architect of Record: Nelson Worldwide

Local Architect: Mia Kaplan Studio

Landscape Architect: Dana Brown & Associates

MEPF Engineering: Windward

Structural Engineer: Marais Consultants

Civil Engineer: Qk4, Inc

Food Service: Maynan Consulting, LLC

MKS prepared all materials for the nomination of West End Lake Shore Park to the National Register of Historic Places.

About the Park:

West End Lake Shore Park is a 22-acre rectilinear public park that is located along the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain in the West End neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. This public park was developed by the City of New Orleans in 1913 to support outdoor recreation and entertainment, and it was in this spirit that some of the park’s significant Beaux Arts and Craftsman features, including the Darlington Electric Prismatic Fountain, and several pavilions were created between 1914-1915. Later, the Works Progress Administration made improvements to the park which included the addition of a picturesque lagoon, stone arch bridge, and curvilinear circulation across the site.

The West End Lake Shore Park is locally significant under Criteria A for its role in the history and development of public recreational areas in the West End neighborhood of New Orleans and is significant under Criteria C as a site that was created through an act of coastal engineering historically known as land reclamation, and possesses many contributing elements of its historic design, including several contributing structures, and a rare example of a Darlington Electric Prismatic Fountain constructed in 1915.

The West End Lake Shore Park highlights two main periods of significance, the first encompassing the area of Architecture/Engineering and Landscape Architecture which begins in 1909 when the land was first developed and ends in 1939 when the latest improvements were completed under the Works Progress Administration, and the second area of Entertainment/Recreation which begins in 1915 when the park first opened and ends in 1974. The park remains open to the public today.

The Bechac-Marigny Building, coined as the “Grande Dame of the Mandeville Lakefront”, is a significant building that has been home to the Bechac family of restauranteurs since the early 1900s.

After repeated flooding, the building received a FEMA hazard mitigation grant to elevate the historic structure above the adopted BFE.

MKS is the Architect of Record, Pre-Construction Project Manager, and Historic Tax Credit Consultant for the project.

This project is currently in progress. Come back for updates.

PUBLIC ART / EXPERIENTIAL DESIGN

Olde Towne Slidell’s beloved Antique Umbrella Alley was installed over two years ago, and has been maintained by volunteers from the local Slidell Historical Antique Association. MKS designed retrofits to the existing alley to install a pulley system, making the ongoing care of the umbrellas easier.

This project is made possible with support from Olde Towne Slidell Main Street, in partnership with the City of Slidell Department of Public Works.

Lincoln Beach is a historic African American waterfront park in New Orleans East that was once a segregated beach and amusement park. MKS was the historic preservation consultant to Sasaki Associates for the Lincoln Beach Redevelopment Master Plan on behalf of the City of New Orleans.

MKS supported planning efforts with the library of research our office has collected since 2000, including photographs, newspaper articles, ephemera, and documentation from various public and private collections.

MKS was contacted to complete existing conditions drawings of the remaining church pinnacle and preliminary shop drawings to reconstruct new pinnacles belonging to the Historic St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church located at 222 North Roman Street in New Orleans, LA.

The St. James A.M.E. Church was originally constructed in 1848 by members of the congregation under the direction of Reverend Charles Doughty and was remodeled in 1903 by architects Diboll and Owen. The Church building is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a prominent example of the Victorian Gothic Revival Style, with significant features including the following:

1. Pointed Arch Fenestration

2. Stained Glass Windows

3. Blind Arcading

4. The Corner Pinnacles

5. The Central Open Spire

The St. James A.M.E. Church is significant under Criteria C at the state level and is considered the most stylistically ornate A.M.E. Church in Louisiana.

Tante Huppe was constructed in 1823 along the Cane River in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The property was designed for use as a "town house" and had a prior life most recently as a bed and breakfast.

This gorgeous relic of early American architecture is now preparing to undergo interior renovations with the help of historic tax credits. MKS is providing design, historical interpretation, curatorial support for the future house museum, and preparing the materials for historic tax credit applications.

A historic house travels to an unknown land and is now nestled within a 60-acre farm and creative campus in the Cajun prairie.

MKS will be the architect of record for this project which bends the future of historic preservation into off-grid compatibility.

This project is currently in progress. Check back for updates.

Nature has played a central role in the story of Covington’s Playmakers Theater. Set in the historic Sans Souci forest, an old dairy barn that remained after a hurricane razed the property’s massive estate was converted into a community theater that has hosted performances since 1955. A fire later destroyed the barn, and a new theater was built with a similar style and orientation in 1977. Today, Playmakers Theater is home to the longest ongoing troupe of amateur players in Saint Tammany Parish. MKS is supporting the theater with planning for the ongoing care of this beloved place.

Currently on the boards.

The Junkyard Cafe is a mixed-use development in Lacombe, Louisiana. The JYC, as it is lovingly called, will be part cafe, part consignment shop, and part community center.

MKS is handling permitting coordination and site planning, consultant coordination with civil engineering and landscape architecture, and will be supporting the project as an architect during construction.

Project Partners:

Marais Consultants // Civil & Stormwater Management

Dana Brown & Associates // Landscape Architecture

This iconic building was once home to the infamous Chris Steaks, which then became the original location of Ruth's Chris Steak House in New Orleans in the 1920s. The building was constructed circa 1890 and is located within the Esplanade Ridge Historic District.

MKS is handling historic tax credit applications for the interior renovations to the building.

MKS was contracted by the GSA to complete testing for varying types of graffiti removal treatments at the United States Custom House in New Orleans. The project team included Cypress Building Conservation, who performed a Rotec-Vortex crushed glass treatment in addition to chemical methods. Work is currently in progress.

MKS prepared the materials and documentation necessary to nominate historic Lincoln Beach to the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was unanimously approved at the local level and approved at the state level. The nomination is currently in the hands of the National Park Service reviewer.

Mount Zion Lutheran Church in New Orleans was established in 1878 and is considered the oldest Black Lutheran church congregation in the United States. Though the church's home has evolved in response to manmade and natural interventions, the church still retains its original bell, and the current MZLC building is a well-preserved example of late midcentury modern architecture by local architect JC Frantz.

MKS is proud to partner with Mount Zion Lutheran Church to provide historic preservation and architectural services to plan for the ongoing care of this significant sacred place.

MKS in collaboration with Jonathan House/Cyanocitta.

Situated in the heart of Old Greta in the Mechanickham Historic District, this proposed 4 bed, 2.5 bath single family home draws inspiration from the surrounding historic context while adapting to new code requirements such as building to the appropriate base flood elevation and accommodating off-street parking.

Mixed media sculpture. Please contact the studio for more information.

This project is a conceptual design for infilling the center of a city block with high-density affordable housing while preserving existing historic structures at the block corners. The buildings are connected with consistent openings to create a woven, porous feeling between the buildings to allow for natural ventilation and visibility across the site.

At the heart of MKS is a long-standing love of art and nature. Mia was a freelance painter and sculptor for over ten years before becoming an architect. These paintings were painted “en plein aire” in and around the area of her hometown of Slidell, and nearby areas in Lacombe and Abita, LA. Various landscapes are available for purchase. Please contact the studio for more information.