Designer / Agency
arba-
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Residential Building
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Project Présentation
This house sits at the bottom of a garden like a gazebo in a park.
The shape and overhangs of its roof are strictly in line (except for the rounding off) with the urban planning regulations for this district of Caen, Normandy, France.
It consists of a first wooden deck, supported on four concrete stringers laid on technopiles (and thus insulated from the dampness of the ground), topped by a natural zinc roof with generous overhanging standing seams.
Between the two, four private spaces (bedrooms and shower rooms) in the four corners, the only ones enclosed by walls supporting the roof structure, regulate privacy and heat exchange.
The resulting communal space, in the shape of a cross, is nothing more than a continuation of the garden, a sheltered garden, a kind of gazebo.
To simplify the use of zinc, the roof is an expandable surface, i.e. the result of the simple deformation of a plane. Each sheet of zinc is twisted to follow the upward movement of the roof, which houses the upstairs workshop.
The plan is simple, symmetrical along its two perpendicular axes, making it legible to the point of disappearing.
Designed by arba-
arba- was founded in Paris in 2007 by two architects, Jean Baptiste Barache and Sihem Lamine. In 2011, the partnership was transformed into a limited architectural partnership.
arba- is dedicated to developing new solutions for building in a way that is sustainable, affordable and in close contact with the natural and built environment.
arba- designs architecture that is functional, simple and optimal. Their primary purpose - ‘to provide shelter’ - cannot be separated from their secondary purpose - ‘to be seen’. Such architecture is more about instruments than buildings. As with musical instruments, the lines and shapes are pure and minimal, while still allowing for optimum use. The inhabitant is naturally involved in an interplay of uses and interactions with the garden, neighbours, landscape, sun, light, etc.
The projects presented here bring together some of our work and experiments. They are the fruit of dialogue between the two architects, in a process of smoothing out the object. Here, the budget and urban restrictions are not constraints, but an integral part of the design. A constant effort is made to banish any trace of intention, in the image of vernacular architecture. Instead, here the focus is on the users, the landscape, the site, the materials and the craftsman's hand... We are grateful to those who have placed their trust in us and allowed us to build them.