The South Market District in New Orleans, La. is an emerging, bustling area that is transforming the city’s historic downtown. The mixed-use, transit-oriented development combines luxury apartments with an eclectic mix of shops, cafes, restaurants and entertainment venues.

At the heart of the five-block area is The Beacon, a seven-story, 172,000-sq.-ft. loft-inspired apartment building that makes a major contribution to New Orleans’ evolving urban fabric. Drawing inspiration from the prevalent courtyards in the French Quarter, The Beacon is tightly wrapped around an elevated interior green space courtyard that provides a calming and unique public space for residents.

The walls of the courtyard are clad with 21,000 sq. ft. of PAC-CLAD Reveal Panels finished in Silversmith color. “We wanted a material that was ‘maintenance-friendly’ and would reflect the sunlight to brighten up the interior courtyard,” said Hussein Alayyan, project architect with Eskew+Dumez+Ripple in New Orleans. “The design team also liked the horizontal banding and the clean look that the Petersen Reveal Panels provided,” Alayyan said.

“There were a number of inspirations that drove the design concepts for The Beacon,” Alayyan added. “One was exploring the idea of a geode where the form is somewhat austere on the exterior and then more vibrant on the interior once you cut into the stone.” The front elevation of The Beacon is clad with masonry and accented with aluminum composite material (ACM) panels. “Petersen created just the right custom color for us that would complement the ACM,” Alayyan said.

Installation of Petersen’s PAC-CLAD Reveal Panels was completed by John W. McDougall Co. in Nashville. “McDougall did a great job on the installation,” Alayyan said. “And there were some of the geometries along the monumental stairs leading to the courtyard that definitely were challenging.”

The panels were fabricated at Petersen’s plant in Acworth, Ga.