Project description: The Historic New Orleans Collection acquired the former K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen at 416 Chartres and has transformed the historic building into exhibit design and fabrication space, back-of-house operations, digital media production, and office and conference room use for 24 of its 130 employees.

Address: 416 Chartres St.
Owner: Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC)
Architect: Trapolin-Peer Architects (TPA)
Contractor: Ryan Gootee General Contractors (RGGC)
Square footage: 13,000 square feet interior and a 500-square-foot courtyard
Renovation cost: $6 million
Start date: April 2024
Completion date: August 2025

Throughout its close to 60-year history, the Historic New Orleans Collection has acquired several French Quarter buildings and transformed them to adaptively reuse and preserve the historic properties. HNOC can now add the former K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen at 416 Chartres St. to its portfolio as a more than $6 million renovation has been completed to the historic building.

Since 1966, HNOC has produced exhibitions, public programs, books, and multimedia about the history of New Orleans and the Gulf South. HNOC will use 416 Chartres – a more than 13,000-square-foot building and 500-square-foot courtyard dating back to 1834 – for back-of-house operations, exhibit design and fabrication, digital media production, and office space for 24 of its 130 employees. This is the 14th historic building purchased by HNOC with its complete operations now spanning three blocks of the French Quarter.

The former K-Paul’s, located next to HNOC’s Williams Research Center, was unoccupied for four years until HNOC purchased 416 Chartres in 2024. K-Paul’s opened in 1979 and after more than 40 years in business, closed in 2020 and never reopened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What we’ve done throughout our history is acquire buildings in the French Quarter and adaptively reuse them – both to preserve them and engage the public in the history and culture of our city. In this building, that means that we can help ensure that the important legacy of Chef Paul Prudhomme won’t soon be forgotten,” said Daniel Hammer, President and CEO of HNOC.

HNOC transforms 416 Chartres into exhibit fabrication hub

HNOC’s new facility at 416 Chartres will be a hub for exhibit fabrication, freeing up space in its other buildings for exhibitions and public programs. The new space allows HNOC to more efficiently produce exhibits as well as new interactive displays. Picture a master craftsman’s workshop – 416 Chartres is where the exhibitions team will build all the cases and cabinets for HNOC’s artifacts moving forward, says Hammer.

The new space will feature workshops with modern technology, including an outdoor area for welding and painting, and include a dedicated workstation for digital installations with soldering equipment, circuit boards, and specialized lighting and audio. The fabrication shop will be equipped with professional-grade tools for both woodworking and metalworking, such as a high-end table saw, industrial shaping machines, and welding torches.

The construction project was led by New Orleans-based Trapolin-Peer Architects (TPA) and Metairie-based Ryan Gootee General Contractors (RGGC), whose mission was to transform the former restaurant into a dynamic new space for HNOC, balancing preservation and innovation.

The overarching theme of the design transformation was reintroducing natural light, while expressing and preserving the building’s historic fabric, said TPA Senior Architect Margitta Rogers. In other words, TPA and RGGC were tasked with transforming a cozy, previously dark and enclosed restaurant into a bright, open and collaborative workspace. But providing natural light was a challenge. As the building sits on the property lines where windows are prohibited, the only opportunities to introduce daylight were through the façade and interior courtyard.

“While the previous design served its purpose well, much of the interior was occupied by utilitarian spaces that required window infill, cutting off daylight,” said Rogers. “We gutted the building down to the studs, reopened the windows, and made sure that every occupiable space has access to natural light.”

Key historical elements were preserved, including exposed masonry walls and restored wood floors that replicate the original rotten pine. “Contemporary finishes were carefully integrated and detailed to highlight the historic brick and millwork, allowing the building’s historic elements to shine through,” said Rogers. The building’s front façade was left untouched, ensuring its iconic look remains a part of the French Quarter streetscape.

The interior is now a modern, light-filled workspace, with a staircase as the focal point, and a “light sculptural moment that is the primary entry, setting the tone for the visitor experience and connection to the upper floors,” said Rogers. “The before-and-after is so dramatic that it’s hard to believe it’s the same building.”

Renovation project overcomes unforeseen conditions

As with any historical structures in New Orleans, there are surprises, and 416 Chartres had its share of unforeseen structural conditions.

The commercial building is two properties married together. One is wood framed with joists running parallel to Chartres while the other is bar joists running perpendicular to Chartres. This structural duality required custom approaches as the renovation progressed, explained Katie Boyer, RGGC Director of Operational Excellence.

“The existing structural components of two different building frame types literally meeting in the middle of the building was the most challenging aspect of this project,” said Boyer. “Weaving plumbing, ductwork, and new framing members around existing components isn’t something you can easily draw and certainly can’t plan for until all elements are exposed. While we didn’t have to preserve these structural components for aesthetic reasons, it was in our best interest to keep the bones intact and reinforce as needed after thorough investigation and testing.”

This adaptability was also tested by the building’s historic masonry, which required a tedious rehabilitation process using specialized mortar and hand tools to ensure structural integrity and address moisture intrusion without compromising the historical fabric.

Because of the building’s precious granite cornice, Boyer said the RGGC team couldn’t install a standard dry pipe sprinkler system on the exterior. To compensate, they added extra sprinkler heads in adjacent areas and requested a variance to meet fire code. Another challenge arose when tying into the city’s main drainage system. The team had to work closely with structural engineers to precisely locate a new storm drain inlet in the subsurface granite façade and grade beams to ensure the proper downward slope for the new lines.

Another hurdle was the 21 different ceiling types – where most jobs have five ceiling types – and each room had its own ceiling details and particular acoustic requirements. “One of the more complex technical challenges was locating offices directly above the wood shop, which introduced serious acoustical concerns,” said Rogers. “Our solution was to essentially build a room within a room, physically isolating the office structure from the rest of the building to minimize sound transmission.”

One of the most defining moments on the project came with an unexpected discovery. During the design, the architects discovered that the adjacent grade in the rear of the building had been built up over the years and was 16 inches higher than the interior slab. It was a major dilemma that threatened one of the project’s core goals of connecting 416 Chartres to the adjacent HNOC Williams Research Center utilizing the space for work on sensitive collections.

“This discovery was one of those moments that defines historic renovation work – unexpected dilemma met with creative solutions. We were fortunate to have identified this early in the project, just before mobilization,” says Boyer. “To maintain an accessible space and connect the 416 Chartres property through the adjacent Williams Research Center alley (also owned by HNOC), we needed the two buildings to be level.”

The solution was to design and pour a new 16-inch raised slab with enhanced waterproofing, install a ramp for accessibility, and add a leveling topping slab across the entire first floor. This feat of engineering ensured an accessible transition between the two buildings.

“Our team’s adaptability in addressing unforeseen conditions with creative solutions is what I’m most proud of,” said Boyer.