LSU Medical Research Facility

Built in 1961, the Shreveport Sears faced the long decline of brick-and-mortar retail, eventually closing its doors in 2018. Then in 2024, the building was purchased by LSU’s school of Health Sciences, with the vision to construct a state-of-the-art Medical Research Facility.

The open, tall, structural bays - once intended for browsing rows of appliances and homegoods, are now ideal for runs of lab benches and desks, with plenty of vertical clearance for complex building mechanical systems overhead. 

The building’s new courtyard - carved from the center of the existing structure- serves as the nucleus of the updated plan, anchoring the surrounding offices and labs. Newfound daylight now enters middle of the large floorplate, fostering spaces for researchers to inspire, collaborate, and relax.

Emerging from the shadow of the 20th century retail, Shreveport Sears has been given a second chance at life, offering an opportunity for the building to support critical research to cure disease. 

A 180,000 GSF Adaptive Re-use of a three-story Sears retail store built in 1961.  The building will serve as a new home for Louisiana State University’s Medical Research and Clinical Facility near their campus in Shreveport, LA. 

The entirety of the Sears interior area will be gutted down to the structure, with new laboratory and office spaces planned around the existing column grid. Select areas of new floor slab will be constructed to complement the design, as well as subtractive interventions such as stairs and floor openings to connect levels and bring daylight into the center of the large plan. The building, which was connected to the adjacent mall in 1962, will once again be freestanding, allowing for a flowing promenade from the parking lot all the down to a new retail entrance. The 20th century masonry façade will be re-clad in full, bringing the exterior envelope up to 21st century performance standards. Existing design features, such as the mid-century penthouse butterfly roof, have been preserved and re-interpreted as photovoltaic arrays and rooftop mechanical areas, serving the future energy needs of the building. 

The project is scheduled to begin schematic design in April and will utilize a phased approach to bring space online as early as 2027.