Lafayette Street Lighting
Downtown Development District
Client: Downtown Development District New Orleans
Role: Public Realm Consulting, Lighting Design
Scope: Placemaking and pubic art installation in downtown New Orleans.
Status: Complete 2025
Budget: $120,000
Collaborators: All Star Electric
As one of three major improvement projects currently underway in Downtown New Orleans, the Downtown Development District (DDD) partnered with Entergy New Orleans in early 2025 to create a lighting concept for new creative light projectors for the Light Up Lafayette Street initiative, to be installed at Energy Centre Plaza.
Given Studio West’s successful involvement with French Doors and BioDistrict Landscaping in collaboration with the Downtown Development District—which resulted in tremendous success and alignment with Downtown New Orleans, ultimately proving the economic advantage of creative means of placemaking—Studio West was tasked with completing the third and final design for the city’s major improvement plans on Lafayette Street at Loyola Ave.
The Light Up Lafayette Street project aimed to reimagine the Lafayette Street Corridor by introducing a design concept that is at once engaging while encouraging safety and security within the area. The final design resulted in a lighting installation that addressed safety concerns within the neighborhood while improving the street’s visual identity, thereby enabling a welcoming atmosphere for pedestrians and passersby.
Spanning 7 light poles along Loyola Ave, light projectors were installed to create a shining projection of green magnolia leaves, displayed across the sidewalk in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Given the project’s success—and such outward enthusiasm from the public—future goals for the project aim to have the installation continue along the greater stretch of the street, as a continual effort to improve safety, engagement, and enhance beauty within the area.
