NEW ORLEANS — The structure agency previously often called StudioWTA is now known as practis.
The ladies-owned enterprise was initially established in 1991 by Wayne Troyer as Wayne Troyer Architects. It was rebranded to studioWTA in 2013. When Troyer died in 2019, companions Tracie Ashe and Julie Babin assumed management roles. The companions undertook this newest identify change and model refresh to replicate the agency’s evolution and “continued dedication to studying and rising with every undertaking,” based on Babin.
“At practis, we don’t subscribe to a one-size-fits-all method,” she mentioned. “Our pursuit of originality, versatility and creativity is fixed. Our design philosophy prioritizes high quality and authenticity, and we’re dedicated to respecting and honoring historical past whereas creating new and modern areas.”
L to R: Tracie Ashe and Julie Babin
Practis makes a speciality of “fashionable, bespoke” designs and has a portfolio that features residential, hospitality, industrial, and institutional initiatives. It blends historic restoration with new building.
“Practis carries on the legacy of our agency’s ethos of high-quality design with a important eye to context, proprietor objectives, and supplies and methods know-how, in pursuit of architectural options which might be site-specific, respectful of present, historic material, and convey elevated experiences to those that come into contact with the buildings,” mentioned Ashe.
The agency has moved to a brand new workplace at 3450 Journal Road.
Practis has acquired nationwide, regional and native recognition and has been printed in quite a few books and periodicals. The agency was featured in New Orleans Journal’s 2023 Prime Faces of New Orleans because the “Face of Structure.”
Ashe and Babin are licensed architects in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and New Jersey. Each graduated from Tulane College’s College of Structure and are lively within the structure neighborhood: Ashe serves on the citywide structure overview committee of the Historic District Landmarks Fee and Babin is a former president of the American Institute of Architects’ New Orleans part.
In 2016, Babin was named “Grasp Of Structure” by New Orleans Properties + Life Journal and in 2020 she acquired the inaugural “Rising Skilled” Award from AIA New Orleans. She is also a 2020 graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Companies Program and is presently taking part in Loyola College’s Girls’s Management Academy.