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Architects: OPEN ARCHITECTES
- Area: 415 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Utku Pekli
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Manufacturers: Louis Poulsen, Châssis Claes
Text description provided by the architects. One of the main challenges of the project was to propose a frank contemporary architecture taking advantage of the site, its significant natural relief, and the beautiful orientation located on the street side while respecting the prescriptions of the subdivision permit. The house is set back from the street, parallel to it. This withdrawal, about forty meters, allows us to take advantage of the south-west orientation of the main facade and to preserve the maximum trees and vegetation in the receding area. This implantation also makes it possible to establish a coherent link with the neighbouring villas and to promote the integration of the building in its environment.
The Client wanted a rational home in keeping with his time in terms of architecture, liveability, and energy consumption. This desire has resulted in the establishment of simple and streamlined volumes, materials, and systems that respect the environment. The project, therefore, consists of the main volume sloping on two levels and a secondary volume perpendicular to a single level on the ground floor. The embedding of the volume in the natural terrain, coupled with a judiciously studied layout of the building, makes it possible to reduce the height between the slope and the natural level of the ground below the authorized 4.50 meters.
The strength and simplicity of the architectural part naturally lead to the use of simple materials, slate roofing, dark grey aluminium joinery, and anthracite grey fiber-cement facade panels. Special importance was attached to the ecological footprint of the selected materials (manufacturing techniques, provenance, maintenance techniques, recycling, etc.). The selected materials and colours have been studied in order to integrate the dwelling discreetly in the environment and to harmonize it harmoniously with the landscape context. A helicoidal staircase allows making an original and fast transition between the entry on the ground floor and the deliberately perched living room. Sculptural appearance with nevertheless a small footprint to avoid segmenting the living area upstairs. The volume of the floor is completely free from any technical constraints, which allows the full expression of the unitary roof.
This roof, a major element of the atmosphere of the floor, is dressed in a wooden lathing to reinforce the impression of continuity on the one hand, and to ensure acoustic comfort given the reverberant effect of large glass surfaces. In the middle of the volume, the kitchen is in the form of a dark monolith that ensures the transition between the living area and the area of the fitness room and the master suite. The continuity between the inside and the outside is ensured by a reflection on the materials, the wood in the longitudinal direction, in opposition with the mineral coating of the terraces covering the transversal volume. On the ground floor the floor, more solicited, is entirely mineral. The finish of the interior walls consists of clay plaster stained in the mass. This material makes it possible to regulate the internal hygrometry and to do without finishing paints for most of the walls.
