The Jackson Building, Baton Rouge

The Jackson Building is designed as a two-story administrative office space that includes five principal offices, 17 smaller offices and two large open spaces located on the first and second floors for the support staff. There are three conference rooms, including a large 480-sq.-ft. main conference room on the second floor.

The building also includes men's and women's restrooms on each floor, a break room, a library, a mezzanine storage area and numerous support and storage spaces.

For the renovation and restoration of the original building, the existing structural system was used, including the original iron decorative columns supporting large wood beams and floor joists on the second floor and large wood trusses at the roof level. The columns support the building in 22-ft. by 16-ft. bays throughout the building footprint.

The floor heights are 17 ft. between the first and second floor and 14 ft. between the second floor and roof structure. The 13-in.-thick exterior brick masonry walls support the perimeter of the building. The new interior office walls were constructed of 4-in. metal studs and painted gypsum board walls. Most of the offices have large, aluminum storefront windows opening to the interior office area.

Many of the original materials were restored and re-used throughout the building. The original concrete foundation slab was "stained" in the entry lobby, break room and at the east main stair entry area. The original interior brick masonry and stucco walls were cleaned and restored and left exposed on all interior perimeter walls of the building. The original pine wood floors on the second floor were sanded and restored, as well as the original bead ceilings located on the first and second floors.

Most of these bead ceilings were left exposed, creating a dramatic large ceiling space on both floors. The mechanical ductwork systems were exposed below the ceilings, utilizing painted round spiral ductwork. The electrical lighting system was also exposed below the ceiling, utilizing pendant type light fixtures.

The finishes on the exterior of the existing building include a plaster system with rustification reveals that were created in the plaster to match the original rustification detail. These reveals give the exterior walls the appearance of large plaster blocks as per the original design of the building.