New perspectives from established firm

TRATEGIC, sustainable, experimental and beautiful. Those are some of the principles that guide a more than century old local architecture firm.

Located on Line Avenue in Shreveport, Somdal Associates has been around since 1908. The firm is behind some of the most recognizable buildings in the area, from schools and churches to health-care facilities and homes. Somdal Associates’ designs include the Sportspectrum retail facility, the Wall Center for Plastic Surgery, the Spine Institute of Louisiana, Sutton Children’s Hospital and the Holy Angels therapy and fitness facility.

“We do a wide range of work and it spans different industries and different scale,” said Somdal Associates partner Chris Elberson. “We try to respond to our clients and represent their best interests. That gets expressed differently with different architecture on each job.”

Elberson said the firm is one of the oldest and longest running in the country. Twelve team members work on projects in several different states and across Louisiana, and specialize in different areas.

“I would say we have a health and wellness division, and then we also have a residential division, and then we have a commercial division,” said Somdal Associates’ newest partner, Billy Hargrove.

Elberson said Somdal recently completed the CHRISTUS Highland expansion and are working on a cyclotron project for LSU Health Shreveport’s Biomedical Research Foundation.

Another large part of the firm’s portfolio is non-secular designs, including renovations at Shreveport churches First Presbyterian, Noel United Methodist and Broadmoor Baptist, as well as the Emmett Hook Center and Children’s Ministry Center at First United Methodist. Work is under way on a new preschool at St. Mark’s Cathedral School.

A smaller project that has received a lot of interest lately is Parish Taceaux located within artspace in downtown Shreveport. The contemporary tequila bar was a pro bono project for the firm.

Artspace chairman Linda B. Goldsberry donated the funds for the construction of the restaurant, while Somdal donated the design.

“They are a legacy of philanthropic architects,” said Shreveport Regional Arts Council executive director Pam Atchison. “They’re so community-minded, and they have helped out a number of nonprofit organizations who have needed more than just great design but also needed a little bit of extra help with how to pay for that great design.”

Elberson said the goal was to bring the public into artspace to connect people and purposes in the downtown area. A large glass wall separates Parish Taceaux from the main gallery so patrons may view the exhibits and events in artspace from the restaurant and the bar. It allows Parish Taceaux to be loud and festive but not interrupt the activities going on in artspace and vice versa.

An obstacle that Somdal overcame during construction of the Southern-style taqueria was damage to the space’s original hardwood floors. Atchison said some old termite damage was discovered during the project, which negated plans to keep the flooring in place. “They wouldn’t support weight, so we were all very devastated because these were great hardwood floors,” she said.

Instead, Elberson repurposed the wood and used it for the bar and tabletops for the restaurant. Somdal’s other challenge was to build Parish Taceaux so it could also serve as a fully functioning catering kitchen for large-scale events held at artspace Another unique feature in Parish Taceaux is the art on the walls. Visiting national resident artist and international awardwinning skateboarder Steve Olson (who was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2014) made the splatter paint artwork with area elementary students. Each school kept one canvas, and artspace kept the other.

Atchison said the combination of generosity and vision made Parish Taceaux a place where people want to be and eat great food. “[Elberson and Hargrove] listened to us. They allowed a group vision to come to fruition in a way that made it possible … to achieve this vision of a downtown, very urban and yet comfortable, welcoming spot for all things that are contemporary tacos,” she said.

They allowed a group vision to come to fruition in a way that made it possible … to achieve this vision of a downtown, very urban and yet comfortable, welcoming spot for all things that are contemporary ...”

– Pam Atchison, SRAC Executive Director

Grandson of former Shreveport Mayor William T. “Bill” Hanna, 32-yearold Hargrove has been with Somdal Associates for three and a half years. Making it from college at Louisiana State University to Somdal was an adventure. After college, his job search took him to New Orleans. While he didn’t find an architecture position, he did end up cooking at Commander’s Palace. Then he moved back to Shreveport, took a job at United Built Homes and joined a band – Super Water Sympathy – and even got to record in London. That band is now known as local favorite Hydrogen Child.

“The band did really well and thought I could leave and make music for money, and that didn’t work out,” Hargrove said. “Then I was lucky enough to meet [Elberson]. It’s worked out great.”

Hargrove said the firm’s strength is its mix of experienced members and younger members with fresh perspectives and ideas. He said they balance each other out and work to represent what is in the client’s best interest.

Master planning is another service Somdal provides its clients. The firm identifies several projects that are part of the larger picture that could take several years to complete. One such project was The Wall Center for Plastic Surgery in Shreveport.

Elberson said they planned the initial phase to be able to handle more buildings, parking, drainage, and landscaping. “You have to do preliminary, or schematic designs, at the beginning to work all that out. It’s just planning ahead and being strategic about it,” Elberson said.

Phase I was a 17,000-square-foot complex that houses a plastic surgery clinic, an on-site ambulatory surgical center, Jade MediSpa, and guest suites patients can stay in before and after surgery.

“[Elberson’s] such an expert. He’s very patient. He really likes to educate his clients so they appreciate what he’s doing,” said The Wall Center for Plastic Surgery owner Dr. Simeon Wall Jr. “He taught me so much about proper architecture. Sometimes we just don’t know exactly what we want because we’re not educated enough about it. “ The goal was to build something that didn’t already exist in Shreveport. A lot of effort and thought went into the planning. Wall said the plastic surgery facility is one of only a few complete aesthetic centers of its kind in the country.

Now Somdal is working on the second phase of the state-of-art facility. Plans for several more buildings, modeled after the style and look of the original, will be erected as part of a small development. They will house an anti-aging center, along with other businesses that are complimentary to The Wall Center.

“We put so much work into the front end, I still wouldn’t change a single wall,” Wall said. “We wanted to get it as perfect as we could get it, and [Elberson] was willing to put the time in. He doesn’t shortcut anything. He wants to make sure he has a happy client.”