DesCours Digital Fabrication being cut on Central City Millworks' CNC Router

The contemporary architecture and art festival, DesCours, uses cutting edge new media and interactive installations to lure culturally adventurous art aficionadas into new visual experiences. This year’s DesCours, presented by the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects, is the third annual week-long event. Twenty-six architects and artist teams have prepared 11 sites in the French Quarter and Central Business District.

The installations are in unseen, abandoned and underutilized buildings, giving the viewer the added sensory opportunity to appreciate the art in normally unavailable architectural gems. These hidden areas become a natural “art gallery” to display art and media to showcase works from nationally known artists. This week-long celebration of architecture and art is completely free to the art patrons willing to seek out the installations.

Twenty-six architects and artist teams prepared 11 sites in the French Quarter and Central Business District

Central City Millworks frequently works with artists and architectural students to achieve their design goals with the use of our CNC router. A CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) Router is similar to a printer for wood. Instead of creating a computer file and sending it to a printer, the CNC file is sent to our CNC Router that uses sheets of plywood as a printer would use paper. The plywood is hand loaded on a 5’x 12’ table with a powerful vacuum to hold it down.

The computer controlled router moves in 3 axis to cut out any shape to close tolerances. Complex concepts can be converted into reality easily with a CNC so many architects and artists design with it in mind. CCM has worked with Tulane Architecture Professor Marcella Del Signore cutting digital fabrications for art installations so when NanKo Studios asked her for a local shop to cut their 2009 DesCours fabrication, she recommended CCM. Nanko Studios emailed an autocad file that Rob Thornton (one of CCM’s CAD expert) then converted into a CAD file. The attached pictures show the project being cut on our CNC.

Newly built shutter in our New Orleans mill shop

Besides enhancing the architectural appeal of any home or business, interior and exterior shutters add privacy and protection. We make custom shutters to fit any door or window.

Our mortise and tenon joints plus slats with round tenons that are cut from solid louver stock follow traditional New Orleans construction methods. No gluing of plastic dowels into louvers on any of our shutters.

Because of the damages caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana homeowners can apply for grant funds of up to $7,500 to make even small-scale improvements that will protect their homes from loss in future storms. That includes installing storm shutters.

From mill shop to New Orleans windows

Light through louvers in New Orleans shutters

Typical Working Class St. Ann Street Shotgun

The house at 2404 St. Ann is a marvelous New Orleans “shotgun.” I am totally amazed at how well preserved it is and how it has dutifully carried the soul and story of the original builder into the 21st century. The magic is in how well defined the original details are and how these details have lived through hard, neglected times to tell an important story today. Hal Collums Construction felt lucky and honored to have been the New Orleans construction company chosen to prepare this special shotgun for its second century.

Rarely preserved original rear porch

The impact of how standard the lean-to addition is as the rear facade of the “typical” shotgun double was really driven home when I saw the almost perfectly preserved rear porch and rear lean-to of this cottage. The front façade of this St. Ann Shotgun is the typical working class shotgun, built with the front right on the sidewalk, no porch and a shallow roof overhang. Decorative brackets, carved quoins, cornices, and shiplap front siding identify this structure as a working-class shotgun with an “upgraded” exterior trim package.

Clearly the original wood frame and deck of the back porch had rotted off and had been replaced with a well-designed and skillfully executed concrete deck and concrete stairs during a previous modification. The house has been fortunate over the years as its original builder was a craftsman familiar with the New Orleans building environment and a subsequent porch rebuild was skillfully constructed by a master artisan.

Large Pocket Doors are typical New Orleans Millwork

The Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans working with the Prince of Wales Building Crafts Apprentices Program needed a house ready for plaster in time to take advantage of the apprentices’ time in New Orleans. Master Plasterers would use the St Ann shotgun as a training lab for the apprentices.

We have been tasked to have the house ready for the apprentices within five weeks. We started the last week of November 2009 and intend to have it ready for the plasterers by January. To accomplish this we must complete all structural repairs, restore the historic roof, repair all exterior trim and siding, and then have all mechanical trades complete their rough-in.

Original indigenous cypress windows

The structure had a earlier termite infestation that went unchecked and the insects obliterated the sills, many floor joists, wall studs and even the original heart pine flooring.

The structural work is well underway with most of the damaged sills and joists replaced. Bryon Cornelison, HCC’s project manager, working with Max Mendoza (HCC’s operation manager), is responsible for maintaining this fast track schedule. Check back as we will keep you updated on our progress.

Great view of the bar's ceiling

Victory! HCC Completes the Museum Millwork Job

Euphoria and celebratory high-fives erupted in HCC’s office last summer upon learning we had been awarded the WW II Museum millwork contract. As the initial euphoria subsided, it was further tempered by the reality of our immense challenge.

Hal Collums Construction LLC teamed up with Central City Millworks LLC to bid on the fabrication and installation of custom architectural millwork for the spectacular WW2 Museum expansion opening November 7th, 2009. Earlier that year HCC had worked with Satterfield and Pontikes (one of the leading construction companies in the Gulf Coast region) to fabricate and install the millwork for the Saint Bernard Middle School.

As the initial euphoria subsided, it was further tempered by the reality of our immense challenge

When the WW2 Expansion was announced and the plans by Voorsinger and Mathes Architects became available, we were pleased to learn that S&P was preparing a bid. The HCC estimating group worked with S&P for several months through three plan addendums to develop and refine a competitive bid for the WW2 Expansion. Finally all the hard work paid off with a phone call from S&P telling us they had selected us as their millwork provider for the WW2.

We successfully achieved our WW2 challenge, delivering millwork that one of the architects described as “fabulous”.

Estimating the WW2  job, we realized it would be complicated and technically challenging. Now that we had the job and with our design department mobilizing and our production department planning, we started focusing on the obstacles. There were tremendous design challenges to be solved to accomplish the architect’s vision.

The architect’s plans shows the millwright the architect’s intentions aesthetically, however it is our responsibility to design a cabinet to meet the aesthetic goals while overcoming the structural and material challenges. Before we could put this job into design production we had to completely ramp-up our shop drawing department and our CAD design department. Not only would we have to hire additional CAD designers but we also needed to increase our level of expertise with our CNC router. All these challenges seemed daunting but we knew failure was not an option. We understood this was a legacy job and we had to be victorious for ourselves, our company, and our city.

Millwork at National WW2 Museum bar

Last week we successfully achieved our WW2 challenge, delivering millwork that one of the architects described as “fabulous”. We worked as a team with Satterfield & Pontikes and many other great local and regional subcontractors to deliver a new landmark to New Orleans.

This is truly a new jewel in the crown of our local tourism industry. Hal Collums Construction is proud to have played such an important role in this victory for New Orleans and the New Orleans Tourism Industry.