Report
The challenge of the project was the renovation of an old-farm-building without upsetting its shape and characteristics. The goal was to create a comfortable and beautiful home to live and the right balance between public and private areas, through a careful study of the relation with the external spaces.
The main entrance is on the upper level: from here is the access in the very core of the house, the living room. This is a comfortable but also flexible space, with a lot of light and a huge library.
In this room, the two main project proposals appear: the greenhouse (Jardin d'Hiver) and the well of light (Tour Lumière). These two real “wellness” spaces which allow the light to dearly enter, are climatic systems that use a controlled “greenhouse effect” to heat the interior.
The greenhouse is placed in the same place of the old porch. This structure, once in poor conditions, becomes a place to enjoy the surroundings while drinking a tea, eating, reading, and even grown plants. A greenhouse is very suitable to recover plants as lemons, that particularly suffer from cold in winter. Near the greenhouse entrance is the Tour Lumière. Located in a side protrusion and cleaned from the old floors, becomes the true protagonist of the project.
From the main living space, passing under the library, is the access to the “sleeping area” consisting in a bedroom, a closet and a private bathroom. On one side of the library lies an evocative moving wall, a secret passage that leads into a multimedia room designed with an appropriate sound insulation material and equipped with an audio/video system that will let the perfect listening of music, a home cinema, and a recording studio. This room is characterized by the big stone chimney, appropriately restored; a glazed floor section will be left to appreciate the entire structure which extends up starting from the lower floor. This room also has an external access from the old stone stairs connect to the new indoor level with a short metal staircase.
The lower floor, connected by the staircase in the main living space, is dominated by the large space of the kitchen and the dining room. The kitchen becomes a real altar dedicated to “stay together”. It has a large desk and is near by the larder and the wine cellar. This last one is scenically visible through a window, from the staircase landing. This area ends with a boiler room, made in the basement. To avoid moisture issues, a wall with an air-space, will be realized all around, adding a humidity regulation system too.
In the “tower” beside the large kitchen desk, there is a room with the oven that we called Baguetterie. This area is visually connected with the upper floor through a glass floor, that provides a soft illumination from above. Taking advantage of the existing opening, a double sided oven is installed in the wall in way to prepare bread-products also on the exterior side.
On the south-west side of the house is the outdoor relaxation area. This is connected to the dining room through a large door which has the task to illuminate the interior, also. All the outside is dominated by a private swimming pool, installed without making any excavations. A retaining wall at the end of the property act as a barrier, holding the backfill in which is the swimming pool.
The pool ideally complete all the southern spaces which are dedicated to relaxation and light. The entire area then becomes a large place for leisure and flexible enough to allow different uses over the time.
In the ground floor there is a private area with a large sleeping room with its closet and bathroom. Accessible from the kitchen, there is the room where the lower part of the large fireplace is visible. This is a multi-functional place dedicated to hobbies, even the most noisy and dirty as well, taking advantage of the fireplace, in the preparation of roasts, and connected to the bathroom and the laundry. The access to the Cave is still there since this room becomes a useful tool shed or an additional winery.
It was assumed to lower the position of the existing floor in order to reach a minimum height of 240 cm. This room will become essential as a future connection with Batiment B, through an outside floor and a glazed passage to be realized.
A key part of the entire project is the structural aspect, with a few but significant actions such as the realization of new roofing, using steel, wood and glass, and the big opening of the Tour Lumière.
A significant effort has been to maintain almost all of the original openings to keep the sides without changing too much of the original appearance, but ensuring the necessary amount of light.
A decisive choice was taken in the creation of the new floor levels (made in steel and wood with a concrete finish) avoiding, as required by the Client, uncomfortable changes of plan.
Special attention was directed to the location of bathrooms, all located in the south-east, in order to concentrate the sewer hook-ups in one unique area.
The raising of the floor and the simultaneous decision not to change the existing openings has driven to special effects such as the one in the multimedia-room where some windows are now at floor level. The bottom layer was literally modelled on the level above the Cave, digging as much was necessary to create, one continuous level toward the outdoor pool.
Particular attention was given to the interior comfort through the insulation of the walls from the inside to leave the exposed stone outside. For this, insulation wood fibre panels finished with clay plaster were selected. They have characteristics soft and iridescent colours toward the exterior.
The external insulation was chosen on the side which hosts the large structure of the chimney, in order to leave the inner stone exposed. This outer wall is covered with lime plaster with natural paste-colored. An underfloor ventilation ensure the proper insulation from moisture coming from the soil. The greenhouse and the tower, are important regulators of the inner temperature, helping to gain sun's heat during the winter and providing the right ventilation in the summer.
For Bâtiment B only minimum interventions are proposed, mainly regarding the reconstruction of the intermediate floor to create a car parking, the creation of a stairway leading at the floor below which will become a small laboratory (and a small bathroom) connected to Bâtiment A.