Community Design Workshop

The Community Design Workshop (CDW)’s mission is to assist in the rebuilding of Lafayette’s downtown area and its traditional neighborhoods, as well as assisting surrounding small towns and cities throughout the state. It gives our students hands on experience by helping cities, small towns, and neighborhoods visualize their potential as communities.

The CDW has collaborated with many state and local government agencies on urban design and planning projects, and with small town and neighborhood redevelopment efforts. CDW projects are developed and explored through the architecture studio (ARCH 502) and are continued in the summer by employing University faculty and students.

It gives our students hands on experience by helping cities, small towns, and neighborhoods visualize their potential as communities. The Workshop is designed to educate the public about good community design and planning principles, to assist communities to envision their future by establishing a collaborative effort with its citizens through public workshops and charrettes.

Recent Projects

After Hurricane Rita decimated the southwestern Louisiana coast in 2005, the Delcambre shrimping community struggled to regain its economic stability. The Community Design Workshop conducted public workshops and charrettes to create a waterfront development plan with the intention of drawing tourists and visitors to the area. Download the plan to see the extent of the project.

In 2013, the CDW helped create a master plan for the city of Scott, located just outside Lafayette. Scott is a growing community that needs directional, healthy growth, and our plan focused on integrating parks into the neighborhoods and connecting them with a pedestrian network, plus creating a city center. Download the Scott Master Plan for more information.

The CDW also assisted in the planning for the University bike path that stretches from Eraste Landry Road down Cajundome Boulevard, which was completed in 2012.