Make the best of what you have
When you have a difficult site to work with – perhaps it is hemmed in by other buildings, on a restricted piece of land or in the teeth of the wind – you have no option but to make the best of it.
That is where an architect can turn a difficult project into a distinctive building that sits comfortably in its surroundings while keeping the family comfortable inside.
Hérault practice Artelabo in Gignac has just won the 2017 ADC Award from ArchiDes-ignclub for a €230,000 private home on a restricted and very windswept but spectacular site at Tressan overlooking the Vallée de l’Hérault.
Sitting cheek-by-jowl with a large vineyard grange and a villa, the house both stands out with its stark white appearance, but takes design cues from sloped Provençal tiled roofs to produce an unexpectedly light and airy home.
Architect Nadine Fayard from Artelabo said the site “is different as it is a tight space in an old village and we had to abide by planning bylaws while still creating a worthwhile home with usable space.”
The oblong site is above a five-metre containment wall and is itself walled around, giving a slightly fortress-like apparance. Foundations are dug 3m deep to stand on solid rock.
The interior is anything but stark and austere as the four 3m x 4m rooms are offset left-right to create individual interior patios that allow plenty of light and open up the panoramic views that are visible throughout the property.
Ms Fayard said: “It is a very small site and people cannot believe it has only 80m2 of space but we bring the outside inside to create great living spaces for my husband and I.”
The peaked roofs give an impression of a tight-knit group of houses and, inside, there are two bedrooms with bathrooms, an open kitchen in the dining room, the living room and a 40m2 outside terrace that looks along the valley.
