Farmhouse extension

This typical house of the Gard, wedged in between vegetation and hillside, stands on a terrain that has been separated into three levels with terraces held in place by dry stone retaining walls. The extension added to this house, which until recently only served as second home, had to enable Benoît and Roselyne to host their children, grandchildren and friends.

  
A monolithic and sculptural concrete volume rises from this landscape of greenery and limestone, resonating with the genie of this place, a former quarry. This volume has been designed to allow the interplay of light and shadow to reveal its facetted form and to assert its presence and contemporary look without negating its kinship with the house it adjoins. Narrow openings similar to the farmhouses of the Usège region, are positioned on the east and south facades to protect the interior from intense heat in summer and cold in winter.

The wind known as the mistral, only allows for a few apertures on the north side, apart from the ones on the terrace, which recall the little openings traditionally found on the attic level placed there for the purpose of observing the migration of thrushes. Given the dimensions, orientation, opening and physicality of the project, it blends right into the logic of the existing constructions. Its design transposes the archetypal codes of Provençal farmhouse architecture while reinterpreting the typological characteristics of the original house in a contemporary architectural style.

Benoît & Roselyn, Nîmes, France
Program: farmhouse extension
Architect: Dixneufcentquatrevingtsix
Area: 90 sqm
Completion: 2016