LA Firm Honored for Parish Project

This proposed design for the West Esplanade Drainage Canal on the outskirts of New Orleans won first place in a contest sponsored by Jefferson Parish. The landscape architect firm Cadence came up with this design.

Jefferson Parish in Louisiana awarded the landscape architect firm Cadence first place and a $30,000.00 prize for its proposed design for the West Esplanade Drainage Canal.

The 2.4 mile long stretch in Jefferson Parish — which includes many suburbs of New Orleans — is surrounded by residential and commercial land uses. Cadence’s award-winning team delivered Jefferson Parish an innovative design solution integrated with a community campaign termed “Vive L'Esplanade” (Long Live The Esplanade).

“We are honored by this recognition and were excited by the opportunity to develop a design that is equal parts environmentally, economically and socially viable,” said Cadence Co-Founder Gage Couch.  

Cadence co-founder Rebecca Bradley, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, and graduate of Louisiana State University, added, “it was essential that we create a responsible design solution that incorporated components of fun. Louisiana's unique culture emphasizes the joy of life, so we wanted to provide Jefferson Parish with an environmental asset to display that.”

Six guiding principles formed the foundation for the Cadence team’s holistic vision to beautify and re-purpose the site: beautify, repurpose, implement, define, grow, and engage. The progressive solution developed by the team strives to unite the strengths of the project site with the vivacity of the local community to inspire a renewed sense of pride in the West Esplanade Canal.

Cadence, a full-service planning and landscape architecture firm currently working on a number of projects in Louisiana, Florida and the Bahamas, bested 17 other design firms from around the country in its plan to convert the canal into a usable green space.

The East Jefferson Business Association (EJBA), Jefferson Community Foundation (JCF), Regional Planning Commission (RPC), Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) and the Louisiana Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects (LCASLA) teamed up to manage and fund the competition.