L’Atelier

L’Atelier | Bordeaux, France | 2022
[A6A]

L’Atelier, the term refers to manual work, the artisanal approach and the notion of pleasure that the agency tries to instill in each of its projects.

The premises we have invested in is a former modeler’s workshop. We found many resonances with our approach to the profession in this space, an ideal place to realize our vision of architecture.

Due to its three-part composition: a garage on the street, a garden between four walls and a shed in the heart of the block, the whole thing lent itself perfectly to our agency project. We wanted to design a place for experimentation and meeting, which leaves room for manual work and research. A place where there is no distinction between nature and architecture, a timeless intervention in an existing building that we will never tire of over time.

The old shed in ruins had a diamond shape where only the four peripheral walls and the metal frame could be preserved. We came to open a wall to create the entrance door, with a height of 3.50, a value which was borrowed from the existing opening onto the patio and which will define a sky line within this space.

The interior organization was coordinated in such a way as to maintain a complete perception of the volume, only the meeting rooms and toilets form closed spaces. The metal trusses on the ceiling structure the new installations, each element responds in such a way as to form visual continuities throughout.

Three materials dominate the project: the concrete on the floor recalls the tectonics of the mass, the birch plywood fittings evoke the growth of wood and the acoustic flocking on the ceiling refers to a more celestial dimension.

We have ensured that this workshop is as self-reliant energy-wise as possible and frees itself from air conditioning, fossil fuels and any technological system that is too cumbersome. Heating of the whole is provided by a pellet stove, ceiling fans allow the heat to be distributed in winter and the air to circulate in summer.

A large glass roof on the roof provides overhead light throughout the year, it is protected by an exterior blind which regulates solar gain. The south side of the roof accommodates photovoltaic panels for self-consumption production which covers the agency’s needs.

The existing building was very strongly insulated with wood wool on the periphery and on the roof, which, coupled with the Fermacell linings and the concrete slab on the ground, ensure very good thermal inertia. Small windows to the south and west allow natural ventilation through once the large windows onto the garden to the north are opened.

We intend that when a person enters this premises they have a spatial journey which reflects the philosophy of the agency, that while walking they have the time to experience the place which is revealed little by little. From the public space, three sequences punctuate this movement: the crossing garage, then the lush garden and finally the work workshop. Text description by the architects.