For Tracie Ashe and Julie Babin, the foundation of architectural work is practice. Their firm practis represents the ongoing sense of exploration that underpins every project. As Babin says, “We chose that name as representative of what we do, an active process of designing and growing and learning.”
Ashe and Babin both fell under New Orleans’ spell while attending the Tulane School of Architecture. They started their careers working with architect Wayne Troyer in his eponymous firm, which Ashe and Babin took over as Troyer battled and ultimately succumbed to cancer. That firm became Studio WTA in 2013, and in 2023 rebranded as practis.
A Magazine Street shotgun-style building that Ashe and Babin bought post-pandemic serves as home base for the 5-person firm. There, the practis team dreams up a range of commercial and residential projects that reflect the group’s diverse visual voices, embracing an approach that Ashe and Babin describe as “design agnostic.” Rather than designing in a particular style, they prefer to eschew labels and tailor each project to its location, the needs and desires of the client, and unique demands of the city’s climate and history.
Says Ashe: “You want your projects to stand out in the sense that people can tell immediately that they are high quality and that someone really took care with the design and thought about it with intentionality. But you don’t want them to overwhelm anything… In that way, all our designs evolve from specificity of place.”
The pair’s impressive portfolio includes the Hotel Peter and Paul, a range of striking spaces across Tulane’s campus, and residential projects that run the stylistic gamut but are unified in their architectural artistry. Current projects like the new JAMNOLA space and a facility to support unhoused people (revisiting a project they helped design in its early days) allow Ashe and Babin to continue shaping the cityscape – and practis-ing their craft.
Despite the city’s sometimes challenging building environment, the two remain committed to their adopted home. Says Ashe, “It’s the attitude of the people who want to live here… The fact that people are still willing to do projects and make the investment here is what gives me optimism.”
