“I wasn’t sure I wanted to be an architect as a young kid, but I was always interested in houses and structures and history. My mother grew up in Eutaw, Alabama, and I remember going back there to visit, loving all the old structures. During the Civil War, Eutaw wasn’t burned. There’s so much visual history there, still. It was definitely an early inspiration,” says Corbett Scott, who founded his namesake firm in New Orleans in 2014. The Birmingham native graduated from Tulane, initially working for several years under Michael Carbine of Mac Maison.
“Today, I’m primarily residential, but I also enjoy working on smaller projects for hospitality.”
A night imbibing on North Rampart will quickly acquaint one with Scott’s work, as he helped design Bijou (now closed), the Rampart Treehouse and the Champagne-focused venue, Effervescence.
“Ale on Oak was my first restaurant,” he laughs, “and it was definitely trial by fire. The project went off without any challenges, and it’s now a great little bar. I think in New Orleans overall, the challenges keep it interesting, You have to see a space, possibly made several centuries ago, and to figure out how people will enjoy it, move through it and experience it in modern times.”
As a Mid-City resident who is currently working on his own house in his spare time, he draws inspiration in the challenges of strange structures, city regulations and a fickle, sometimes brutal, climate. “The climate,” he says, “is something you have to work with, not against. Our environment dictates so much. It’s very humid. It’s very moist. It’s all about taking a challenge and making it an opportunity.”
A keen eye for trends, for what works and what does not, Scott says he enjoys most clients who have a sense of creativity and who can put their trust in smart design. Many want a double cottage turned into a single-family home, or to add a camelback onto an existing place, and every inch counts. Two-hundred years ago, closets were not an architectural requirement and staircases were often exterior, for example.
“I had one project on St. Charles,” he recalls. “It was a two-condo unit, but not side by side. Each floor was a condo, and it was a corner lot with a side and front entrance. We had to turn it into a single residence, which we did by punching a hole through all three floors, crafting an appropriate staircase.”
Utilizing negative space beneath staircases is another favorite trick to take an 1800s home into this century, with beautiful, seamless doors that allow one to quietly tuck away sports equipment, luggage or even create a dog crate.
“Right now, I’m noticing a trend in attic space being utilized,” he continues. “Given that we can’t build down, we must look up.”
Looking up, looking forward, Scott is staying busy, hopeful that 2026 will bring him into a hotel job, as well. “We have these historic spaces, and I love that as an architect, here in New Orleans specifically, we are helping our town evolve. It’s incredible to give old structures the care they deserve and a chance to carry on for future generations.”
