Ioanna Vautrin: Péniche

Founding inspiration in the maritime world and industrial landscapes, Ioanna Vautrin designed a common room to complete Cattani’s A’Docks housing complex in Le Havre.

A’Docks designed by Cattani Architects Atelier in Le Havre is a housing complex that consists of 100 apartments (of of 24 square meters each) made out of old shipping containers.

As a common living area was the missing midpoint, and conscious of living a unique experience, eight students and residents decided to invest and commit to promote collective and social life in the residency. They therefore commissioned a designer to fill this gap with the help of the “Nouveaux Commanditaires” of the Fondation de France.

Péniche, designed by Ioanna Vautrin, is a space that includes a container and its exterior surrounding and found inspiration in the maritime world and the industrial landscapes of the area around the residency. A blue porch roof covers two containers and delimits a terrace comprising two large tables and their respective benches. Like a pontoon, the exterior wooden flooring welcomes the visitors to board in the container which has new and soft lines. The vaulted ceiling evokes the hull of a boat, the inside of a barge or a train... At the end of the common room, a long table is surrounded by a bench which occupies the whole space and refers to the interior of a boat.

Both sculptural and functional, simple but singular, this setup meets the initial willingness to make coexist contemporary creation and social cohesion.

This project was created with the support of the Crous Rouen Haute-Normandie, the Cnous, the city of Le Havre, the Fondation de France, the association Concrete in collaboration with Artconnexion and the sponsorship of the company from Le Havre: ARC / Atelier de Réparation de Conteneurs.

Ioanna Vautrin: Péniche

Founding inspiration in the maritime world and industrial landscapes, Ioanna Vautrin designed a common room to complete Cattani’s A’Docks housing complex in Le Havre.

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