Céline Teddé and Jérôme Apack of Marseilles-based studio AT Architectes have shaped a family house for a sloping site in Le Tholonet, a district in the Bouches-du-Rhône in the South of France. The site, set amongst the foothills of Montange Sainte-Victoire, is densely wooded with the pine trees that throng the region. The plot itself was an existing clearing, reached via a long track, bearing the ruined remnants of a much older house.
Maison Au Tholonet, France, AT Architectes
Tour AT Architectes' retreat in the French countryside
This brief called for an all-new structure, as there was nothing left to practically restore. However, the new house occupies the same footprint, re-using the levelled ground, foundations and stone retaining walls of the original house. Teddé and Apack have arranged the project as six distinct volumes, plus a garage, each delineated by walls of meticulously finished concrete.
Maison Au Tholonet, France, AT Architectes
Each of the spaces exists independently of the other, with the independent garage and main bedroom located on the lowest level, the latter providing direct access to the forest. A corridor and staircase lead up to the main living space, a cluster of four volumes arranged around a courtyard and united by a heavy concrete roof that doubles up as a terrace. Wood lined interior walls and wooden framed windows contrast with the polished concrete floors and raw untreated ceilings.
Maison Au Tholonet, France, AT Architectes
‘The traditional opposition of day spaces and night spaces is abandoned here in favour of rooms to that you can use as you desire,’ the architects say. Every space has an exterior equivalent, whether it be a terrace, patio or the forest itself, embedding the house within the landscape. The uppermost level is reach by a sculptural wooden staircase and provides access to the main deck and the forest above the house.
Maison Au Tholonet, France, AT Architectes
The studio works primarily in the South-East of France, enjoying the contrast between structure and the arid, harsh landscape. As well as ensuring a high level of energy efficiency is baked into every project, the architects treat the construction process as a crucial stage and won’t take on design only projects. ‘Construction allows us to work in situ at a one-to-one scale to continue to nourish the project, exchanging knowledge and information with all the different trades on site,’ they say.
Maison Au Tholonet, France, AT Architectes
The Maison Au Tholonet also embodies another aspect of their approach, that of re-using existing structure wherever possible. ‘We also limit the use of technical equipment that isn’t durable or hard to maintain,’ Apack and Teddé note, ‘instead, we prefer using construction methods and plans that maximise thermal efficiency and comfort.’
Maison Au Tholonet, France, AT Architectes
The new house, with its expansive views across the plains of Bouches-du-Rhône from the heart of the forest encapsulates their approach to building within an existing landscape.
Maison Au Tholonet, France, AT Architectes
-
‘Irving Penn: Centennial’ offers an unparalleled look at the seminal American photographer’s oeuvreA new retrospective in A Coruña, Spain celebrates the meticulous grandeur of Irving Penn, spanning fashion editorial, still-life, nudes and portraiture across seven decades
-
Inside Luna Luna: the amusement park designed by artists lands in New York‘Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy’ – featuring rides by Basquiat, Lichtenstein, Hockney, Haring, and Dalí – has opened at The Shed
-
Why champagne pairs beautifully with fine foodMaison Krug unites champagne with decadent cuisine in the latest edition of its ‘Single Ingredient’ adventure, in collaboration with globally renowned Michelin-starred chefs who enhance the flavours and aromas of Krug Grande Cuvée or Krug Rosé
-
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
-
La Grande Motte: touring the 20th-century modernist dream of a French paradise resortLa Grande Motte and its utopian modernist dreams, as seen through the lens of photographers Laurent Kronental and Charly Broyez, who spectacularly captured the 20th-century resort community in the south of France
-
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain unveils plans for new Jean Nouvel buildingFondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has plans for a new building in Paris, working with architect Jean Nouvel
-
Discover Tempe à Pailla, a lesser-known Eileen Gray gem nestled in the French RivieraTempe à Pailla is a modernist villa in the French Riviera brimming with history, originally designed by architect Eileen Gray and extended by late British painter Graham Sutherland
-
At Lee Ufan Arles, tension and calm guide relationships between space and artLee Ufan Arles opens in the south of France, a collaboration between the famed Korean artist and Japanese architect Tadao Ando
-
A new era: Centre Pompidou architects discuss their bold 2030 plansPlans for the Centre Pompidou 2030 vision were recently announced, revealing a design refresh of the iconic Paris structure; we caught up with its lead architects Moreau Kusunoki to hear more
-
The Grand Paris Express, Europe’s largest urban design project, is en route to successThe Grand Paris Express is a system of new rapid transit lines across the French capital, with each station designed by a different architect – and it's currently under construction
