MenuThe Farmacia Wellness Hub
The Small Center worked with NewCorp, Inc to design the FARMacia Wellness Hub, a signature initiative of NewCorp, Inc’s 7th Ward Revitalization Project. The FARMacia Wellness Hub aims to improve community health by providing a space for wellness focused activities and educational programming.
Project Dates
June 2019–August 2019
Context
Our Public Interest Design Fellows developed a master plan for the nearly 7, 500 sq foot site and built the community gathering structure. Based on the needs and priorities identified by NewCorp and community stakeholders during design charrettes in Spring 2019, the master plan also includes a butterfly garden for children to play, bioswale to manage stormwater, storage structure for equipment and materials, and an additional pavilion for growing. The built community gathering structure incorporates the unique neighborhood street grid of “The Cut” into the front façade and uses woods and ropes on the side elevations to create a gradient that alludes to public, private nature of a shotgun house by situating open space in the front and more private and intimate spaces toward the back of the site.
Partner Organization
NewCorp, Inc. (NewCorp) is a private non-profit 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing financial products and services, technical assistance, training, counseling and advisory services to small-tomedium, minority and women owned businesses. Our mission is to serve as an
economic catalyst in the markets we serve in our effort to create wealth in marginalized communities.
NewCorp has rendered assistance to the New Orleans small business community for 20 years. Over the past 15 years, NewCorp has expanded its market to include the surrounding parishes of Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Charles, St. John, and Plaquemines. We are dedicated to developing lending and training programs for small businesses that have difficulty accessing capital from traditional sources.
Outcome
The final design of the pavilion pays homage to the single shotgun and serves as a reminder that these lots once contained homes full of vibrant life and rich history — Dr. Thelma Coffey-Boutte, the first Black woman to practice medicine in New Orleans resided here; making the desire to transform this site into a hub for community wellness that much richer.
Collaborators
NewCorp, Inc
- Pamela Broom
- Vaughn Fauria
Team Members
Project Leads
- Jose Cotto (Design Lead)
- Emilie Taylor Welty (Project Manager)
Students
- Abby Boedigheimer
- Hannah Bannister
- Griffin Daly
- Chewys Parra-Paulino
- Taylor Scott
- Maddison Wells
