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Louisiana’s oldest HBCU is constructing a new multipurpose building and residence hall that promotes innovation, collaboration, and community amidst a living and learning environment.

The Dillard University Innovation Collective, designated for upperclassmen, is scheduled to be completed in June 2025 and will open at 4141 Norman Mayer Ave. The 71,415-square-foot, four-story building will feature 251 beds (mostly two-bedroom residences), a double-height student lounge, communal kitchen and dining area, study rooms, amenity spaces, faculty offices, café, and a multipurpose room that will be accessible to the larger Gentilly community.

Founded in 1869, New Orleans-based Dillard University is a private faith-based liberal arts university that offers 22 majors and two certificate programs.

“I have been in higher education for 30 years and have seen the need evolve for students to have an extension of their education experience in a place where they can live, learn, innovate, and collaborate. Our Innovation Collective provides all these resources to enhance our students’ living and learning experience, and we are excited for it to open this summer,” said Dr. Monique Guillory, President of Dillard University.

In 2022, Dillard received a $41 million loan through the U.S. Department of Education’s HBCU Capital Financing Program. The project broke ground in January 2024 and is on schedule for its June 2025 completion. “The building is dried in and interior finishes are underway – we’re about 70% complete and are on schedule for completion of the project in June,” said Sarah Busch, VP of Operations for Landis Construction.

Landis Construction and CDW Services have teamed up as the general contractors on the project. Trapolin-Peer Architects is the architecture firm, and Dana Brown & Associates is the landscape architect. Landmark Consulting is the owner’s representation on the project, and engineering firms include Crumb Engineering, Drake Engineering, ILSI Engineering, and PACE Group.

“This beautiful building – the first new construction project in many years for Dillard – is even more special because of the strength and collaboration of the team that has worked together for several years to bring it to fruition.,” said Busch. “From all our construction, design, and engineering partners to Landmark Consulting and Dillard University, there has just been a professional and cohesive collaboration and communication that has made this project smooth and efficient. I am excited to see the finished product come together.”

CDW Services CEO Christopher Walker is an alumnus of Dillard University. “This has been such a pleasure and honor to work with Landis and all our partners on this impactful project, and to also give back to Dillard University,” said Walker. “Dillard has given so much to my career that I am thankful for, and the university also made it a point to ensure that we had an influential African

American presence contributing to the construction of this building,” said Walker.

Dillard set a goal for 35% contractor and subcontractor participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), and thus far, the project has achieved 42% DBE participation. “This initiative is a wonderful example of diversity working well within a public-private partnership, and why diversity initiatives are so important,” said Guillory. “Diversity is people from all backgrounds working together – a collective of thoughts, opinions, and experiences – all contributing to something special and that’s what we achieved through this project.”

The Transformation 2030 Dillard University Strategic Plan, published in 2023, speaks of the university leadership’s “Communiversity” vision – creating a more inclusive and interconnected living and learning environment on campus. The Innovation Collective accomplishes that goal, said Raymond Armant, AIA, Senior Architect with Trapolin-Peer.

“Dillard, unlike many local universities, faces a unique situation in which this residence hall is not actually on the contiguous campus, but it is adjacent to it,” said Armant. “So, a lot of thought in the design went into how students go about their daily lives on and off campus, and what resources they would need. The resulting community hub fosters a vibrant and collaborative living environment that helps them decompress from school, improve wellness, and embrace a holistic approach in which students can live, learn, and serve within the Gentilly community, and one in which the community can engage in as well.”

The design of Innovation Collective includes communal areas such as an exterior courtyard, student lounges, shared kitchen, and dining area. There are study rooms catered to both group and individual activities, recreational and wellness areas, and also a multipurpose room on the first floor, which will be open to the Gentilly community.

“We will have workshops that support innovation and entrepreneurship and also meeting spaces that are open to members of the Gentilly community as we engage with our neighbors,” said Guillory. “One of the cool things is we will have some faculty and staff who live in the building, so there will be an added benefit of mentorship and collaboration with students and teachers.”

The building massing, yard setbacks, and façade composition are arranged to blend with the mix of commercial and residential neighborhood uses, while relating back to the Dillard University campus. For instance, the building has a white painted brick base reminiscent of Dillard’s other campus buildings with fiber cement board paneling at the punched window locations as well as at the top floor.

“The exterior looks sharp with the white painted brick, representative of Dillard’s campus and surrounding architecture,” said Armant. “On the interior, we used a wayfinding theme with the various paint colors that represent space functions, so communal spaces may have one color, residences have another, and so forth.”

Walker and Busch both agreed that one of the more impressive spaces is the double-height, main student lounge area, which will be accessible from the front entry or the rear courtyard. “The student lounge is right when you walk in and it’s a wow factor of a grand entrance,” said Walker.

“It’s like you’re walking into the Four Seasons Hotel when you enter the building. It will set the tone for the rest of the building’s experience.”

Busch added: “The student lounge is very open and welcoming and will be one of the most impressive spaces in the building with tons of natural light, glass looking out to the exterior, and fully furnished with comfortable lounge seating, chairs, tables, and workstations for young people to convene and hang out. You can really get a nice feel for the emphasis placed on community by standing in that one space.”