News

Trahan Architect’s design for a new Laredo Convention Center in Laredo Texas was unveiled to the City Council on Monday November 20^th 2017.

Laredo’s long-awaited downtown convention center is designed to incorporate two historic homes into its plans for a new, modern structure that overlooks the Rio Grande.

A plan presented to City Council on Monday shows that the proposed convention center would wrap around the east, south and west sides of Casa Ortiz and the unoccupied baby blue house that is next door at 907 Zaragoza St.

Council voted unanimously to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Palafox Hospitality, a subsidiary of Fasken Oil and Ranch that manages La Posada Hotel, to provide a framework for this project’s development.

There is not yet a cost estimate for the convention center, but the agreement stipulates that the city will pay for construction costs as well as for the building’s furniture, fixtures and equipment.

The city will also “consider providing an abatement or reimbursement” of a portion of La Posada’s property taxes, according to the MOU. They may also consider waiving building permit fees or “other incentives that may be available for the project.”

Trey Trahan, FAIA, will be speaking at the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University on Monday, November 13, as part of their Fall 2017 Lecture Series, presenting his lecture titled: “Fragmenting Ecologies”. Trey is serving as the Alan H. Rider Visiting Critic and Distinguished Lecturer this semester at CMU.

Trey spends his time between New Orleans, New York, and Patagonia Chile, where he recently purchased and is in the process of conserving a property in the Corcovado National Park, one of the eleven national parks established by North Face founder Douglas Tompkins. He is working to return this property to its pristine natural state, while enjoying his time in this remote landscape. Fragmenting Ecologies investigates increasing species through fragmentation of ecologies.

For more information on the lecture, please check here.

Trey Trahan, FAIA, is Founder and CEO of Trahan Architects, with local and international projects that have received recognition for their innovative use of materials. With a strong personal belief in the value of conservation and philanthropy, Trey’s life and work is guided by a commitment to the development of sustainable environments. Trey’s architectural projects include the Louisiana State Museum in Natchitoches, recipient of a 2015 National AIA Honor Award for Interior Architecture and Architect Magazine’s Annual Design Review Award. Trey has taught graduate classes at both MIT and USC, is board member of The Cultural Landscape Foundation in Washington DC, and member of the global advisory board for the Van Allen Institute in New York.