The boutique architectural firm practis prides itself on its individuality; a firm whose one-off designs reflect their place and time led by Tracie Ashe and Julie Babin.
Ashe joined the company, then Wayne Troyer Architects–in 2003, and Babin a few years later; both graduates from Tulane University who had fallen in love with the city of New Orleans. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the firm was fully committed to the task of rebuilding from the storm’s devastation and returned to the city full force in October of 2005 to jump into the efforts.
After the company’s rebrand in 2013 to studioWTA, a plan was set in place for Ashe and Babin to eventually take over as full owners of the firm from their mentor Troyer. Upon his tragic passing in 2019, Ashe and Babin took the mantle, forming a partnership with the rebranded ‘practis’, upholding a legacy of excellence while blazing their own trail in a city known for its architecture.
As a women-owned business, the practis partners are committed to leading a highly skilled and versatile, predominantly female team in all manner of projects from residential, commercial, and institutional sectors. From the youngest interns to most established architects, everyone on the practis team is involved with meetings, budgeting, scheduling, and more; a holistic approach born from the spirit of collaboration.
“The way our firm has always worked, in going back to this idea of collaboration, is that everyone in the office has a voice and has design ownership of projects,” says Ashe. “All of our employees work on projects from start to finish and are heavily involved in the process.”
“No one at practis is pigeonholed into one job,” says Babin. “We pride ourselves on an anti-corporate model. On all different scales and types of buildings, we are a team that has experience in every aspect of the process.”
With a design style that has no set aesthetic, practis focuses on providing buildings of the highest quality and design, aiming for maximum owner satisfaction. In a city like New Orleans, buildings are a living history. An architect’s job is to match the building to its location and purpose, not to draw attention to itself, but to weave itself into the kaleidoscopic nature of the city. The practis motto is simple: aligning place with purpose.
“As a firm, it our job to protect the existing historic fabric of New Orleans while continuing to innovate”, says Babin, a past President of the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects. “There is a place for modern design in this town but in the most respectful and innovative, forward thinking, and appropriate way.”
“Our mission is not to take away from historic architecture but to add new flavors to the design evolution of the city,” says Ashe, who serves on the Architectural Review Committee of the Historic District Landmarks Commission. “By doing so, we hope to be but a chapter in the proud history of New Orleans’ architecture.”
Current practis projects include two dorms on Tulane campus, a new expansion for JAMNOLA, and renovating a temporary homeless support facility into a fully fledged permanent facility on Gravier Street. Ashe and Babin hope to expand their offerings to Universities throughout the Gulf South region.
With new office space on Magazine Street and a fresh website detailing its history, portfolio, and more; practis is primed to build upon its history while expanding its reach throughout New Orleans and beyond.
Learn more at www.practis.design.
