Landes is a well known and popular tourist destination in France's west coast and a paradise for surfers; which is why a Paris based art collector and their family chose the spot for their holiday home. The project, brought to life by French architect Maud Caubet, has just completed and it epitomises the perfect balance between the simple life of a retreat and a contemporary family home.
The structure, located on the sandy banks near the beach (just 500m from the water), sits in a sparsely built area, allowing it to blend in effortlessly with the surrounding nature was important for the architect. Caubet chose to work with a timber clad exterior in dark wood, which helps the building to merge as seamlessly as possible with its context. Meanwhile, a concrete structure underneath ensures a solid base for an all-mod-cons living.
The modest house sits on a sandy stretch near the beach
Even though the architect was given, effectively, a carte blanche for the design, she and her team opted for a fairly modest approach; and one that highlights a connection with nature. ‘An assumed raw concrete, and the choice of a dark wood to ensure a complete immersion in the Landes forest,' says Caubet.
A simple, H-shaped floorplan creates ample options for openings and outdoors areas – large terraces and windows provide the owners with moments where they can sit, relax and take in the nearby pine forest and scenery beyond. After all, Caubet's vision was ‘to create living and sustainable architecture', she explains. A sculptural raw concrete staircase sits centrally and leads to the living spaces, garage and guest room, on the right wing of the house – with the more private areas, such as bedrooms and bathrooms nestled in the opposite end.
Discretion was important for the owners, so the open living spaces are raised on stilts to the first floor. This also helps with securing the best, long views out, making this bolthole a real luxury to live in
The structure sits at an area where buildings are few and far between, so needed to blend in well with the natural surroundings.
The architect chose wood as the main material to help the house merge with the scenery
The dark timber wraps around the house making it look seamless.
Inside, simple interiors are matched by large openings towards the surrounding pine forest.
Still, it remains an all-mod-cons contemporary home, including a parking garage for the owner's cars.
Information
For more information visit the website of Maud Caubet
-
The ultimate beach accessory? The Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin is a true meeting of mindsFiat has teamed up with swimwear specialists Vilebrequin to create a Collector’s Edition of the pint-sized Topolino EV that pays homage to the glamour of Riviera life
-
Multi-functional furniture, integrated planting and a felt landscape shape this new officeZeller & Moye’s new HQ space for a German IT company has been designed to accommodate every kind of office working situation, from introverted cubicles through to flexible open-plan spaces
-
Step inside a Hollywood Hills home where European design meets Californian easeLA studio Broad Project takes us inside its cinematic renovation of a 1960s Spanish Revival home in the Hollywood Hills
-
Eileen Gray: A guide to the pioneering modernist’s life and workGray forever shaped the course of design and architecture. Here's everything to know about her inspiring career
-
The Grand Palais is a Parisian architectural feast, emerging from a mammoth restoration projectThe Grand Palais reopens, unfurling its spectacular architectural splendour, meticulously restored by Chatillon Architectes – take a tour
-
Surrealist townhouse Villa Junot lights up Montmartre – and it’s for rentWe go inside Montmartre’s Villa Junot, a former composer’s home reimagined by interior design studio Claves, where surrealism meets art deco splendour
-
Stay in a Parisian apartment which artfully balances minimalism and warmthTour this pied-a-terre in the 7th arrondissement, designed by Valeriane Lazard
-
Marta Pan and André Wogenscky's legacy is alive through their modernist home in FranceFondation Marta Pan – André Wogenscky: how a creative couple’s sculptural masterpiece in France keeps its authors’ legacy alive
-
Paris’ architecturally fascinating Villejuif-Gustave Roussy metro station is now openVillejuif-Gustave Roussy is part of the new Grand Paris Express, a transport network that will raise the architectural profile of the Paris suburbs
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
-
A transformed chalet by Studio Razavi redesigns an existing structure into a well-crafted Alpine retreatThis overhauled chalet in the French Alps blends traditional forms with a highly bespoke interior
