Coushatta Cultural Education Building

Elton, Louisiana

Full Circle is providing a comprehensive facility plan to add cultural and educational facilities to the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana’s existing Tribal Administration Campus. Tribal land consists of 5,000 acres used for tribal housing, rice and crawfish farming, and business programs. Additionally, the land hosts the Tribal Government, Tribal Finance Department, the Tribal Police Department, and Community, Health and Education Centers. The current educational building is the oldest facility on the Reservation, and in extreme state of disrepair that makes renovations infeasible. A number of educational and social programs critical to support the community that have traditionally been provided are no longer being offered on-site due to the condition of the existing building. A new facility with greatly expanded programming is planned to provide large community gathering space, cultural education space, and multi-generational educational facilities. Early learning, educational assistance, kids tutoring, college research area, K-12 support programming, and Elder services will be supported by the new facility. A large, communal kitchen will provide culturally relevant food offerings to support these programs and serve large gatherings and the broader community events. Outdoor education spaces will provide cultural learning opportunities in the context of a grove of culturally significant longleaf pine trees used for medicine and weaving intricate traditional baskets.

Client
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana

Full Circle Role
Design Architect, Community Engagement

Project Team
Architect of Record: TBE