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Architects: Vanessa Larrère
- Area: 276 m²
- Year: 2011
Text description provided by the architects. Walking through the slender roads of the south west coast of France, an image strikes travelers ‘minds, the repetitive sequences of the pines’ trunk trees along. The rhythm of trees causes a kinetic effect which disturb senses as well as musical variations.
This primitive sense is the basis of the project, located in the heart of the Landes forest: to recreate this tree trunks alternation that line up and let pass through or not the light and views.
The project is situated on a family farm made of fields and warehouses anarchically arranged over successive extensions. In order to give cohesion to everything, it was about building a founder element in the heart of this place, restoring order and simplicity.
The building, new workplace for management had to represent the image of the company and the willingness of owners to move towards an organic, healthy and environmentally friendly agriculture.
The building, along the highway, is defined through its wooden structure clearly set out. The façade, consists of repeating structural modules, produced under the changing effects of light, increased itselves by the vision in movement from the road.
Existing buildings were built by the same carpenter, so wood use was an evidence. Its presence as fundamental element was voluntary: to reuse something already present on a different way.
Inside, the central double height entrance connects all workspaces. Simple and bright, they are sequenced by views over the fields and distant landscapes. The structure can also be read from inside and defines the different spaces. The interface between the project and the existing buildings is managed through a thick wall including all the cupboards, ducts and access to the plant, all in a unified treatment of panels cleverly arranged.
To provide greater openness to the outside, with unobstructed view, windows consist of fixed glazing. Natural ventilation is dissociated and works by opening the wooden panels in front, themselves invisible when closed. Then views pass through and away and create a special relationship with landscape.
