MCKAY AUTOMOTIVE TRAINING CENTER
2115 North Lobdell Ave.
Photography by Tim Mueller
Owner: Baton Rouge Community College
Architect: BCB Architects (Bani, Carville & Brown)
Contractor: Ratcliff Construction Co.
Cost: $14.7 million
Completed: March 2017
Use: The 83,000-square-foot facility features two fully equipped diesel labs, three industry standard diagnostic/technical labs, six high-tech classroom environments, and a 100-seat auditorium.
FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION: “The Baton Rouge Community College McKay Automotive Technology Center is the first structure built at the New Ardendale Development. From its early inception, the design team of BCB Architects understood the ATC’s scale and accessibility should accommodate pedestrians for the future residential component of the development while still incorporating the scale and needs of an automotive training facility. The result was a user-friendly street front design with porches along the classrooms, giving the structure a welcoming feel for pedestrian traffic. The rear of the building increases in scale, allowing for more natural light in auto technician labs and access for larger training vehicles.”
—Matthew Daigrepont and Richard Brown, project architects
