In its annual review of the year's best new architecture, New Orleans magazine honored Lakeside Camera Photoworks, Metairie, La., among five other New Orleans establishments in a recent article. Like many of the structures highlighted in the article, Lakeside Camera was rebuilt after being destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

  According to the article, "The ruin caused by the flooding following Katrina demanded a total makeover, not only of the building but also of the business. A formerly nondescript commercial interior is now judiciously suffused with daylight. There are new glass wall panels along the exterior edges and a strategically placed small skylight creates a glow at the main reception/sales desk. There are several boat-shaped forms, including above the desk in the ceiling, and there's a large curved glass wall that provides some subtle separation for the technical staff. This area as well as the staff production area is slightly elevated, to provide an overview, fostering easy communication with those in the public zone and continuity of circulation for staff."

  The article goes on to say: "One comes here to do things as well as buy things. There are computer work stations linked to kid corrals, play areas with low enclosures close to Mom as she works on a scrapbook of last week's birthday party. The kiosks are organized but with bit of randomness, kind of like... floating! Yes, there's a flood related theme."

  The new Lakeside Camera Photoworks opened last spring after 5 months of design and construction.