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Architects: Margot Aurensan Architecte
- Area: 200 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Sandrine Iratcabal, Margot Aurensan
Text description provided by the architects. The house is designed with a focus on sobriety and simplicity, both in its volumes and materials. The primary goal was to ensure a perfect integration into its environment, while preserving the site's natural and vegetative character. The house's placement was carefully considered to adapt optimally to the existing topography. The garden-level floor is set against the slope, while the ground floor is delicately positioned, creating the illusion of a single-story building on the main street. This subtlety allows the house to blend into the landscape while respecting the terrain's configuration.
The exceptional nature of the site immediately influenced the project. One of the main concerns was to make the most of the stunning view of the Pyrenees, which became an integral element of the design. The outdoor terrace was conceived as a natural extension of the interior space. With large windows, once opened, the two spaces merge and become a single continuous area, offering both a visual and physical continuity between the indoors and outdoors.
Regarding materials, these were carefully selected to ensure the house blends seamlessly into its wooded environment. Charred wood, used as cladding on most of the façade, plays an important role in this integration process. This material allows the house to almost disappear into the surrounding vegetation, while giving it a contemporary and natural aesthetic. The use of wood also contributes to the idea of "erasing" the house, aiming for it to coexist with the landscape rather than dominate it.
From a technical perspective, the structure of the project is based on a reinforced concrete foundation, supported by micro-pile foundations due to the unstable sandy soil. The ground floor is constructed with brick and covered with charred wood cladding, which combines robustness and lightness while ensuring the overall stability of the building.
