rue Paul Bert – Bordeaux
Client: Private
Gross floor area: 150 m2
Cost: 70 000 tax incl., excluding finishes
Completed: September 2004
House RAM
Originally a perfume factory with a 55m2 floor area, lit only by 2 window bays, one large opening to the north, towards the street and one small, to the south towards the internal courtyard. This site is situated in the heart of historic Bordeaux, 20m from the city’s principal shopping artery, St.Catherine Street.
The project was made up of several different interventions:
Empty and rediscover the original volume by clearing the space of all its partitions, doors, stairs and basement to reclaim a new below ceiling height of 6.5m.
Cut the flooring in front of the windows to let light enter from both sides to the middle of the space.
Use a new and lightweight material for the circulation in the form of perforated metal sheeting for the flooring, stairs, walkways and landings which will also welcome the different functions within the home and let the natural light to filter into the heart of the house.
Five levels were created, from the celler to the ceiling, on which one can unwind, dine, work, sleep and tidy. The house concentrates the internal different spaces into the available volume with the lounge enjoying a double volume, the kitchen on the same level as the garden, the office on the walkway and the bedrooms placed nearer the ceiling with lower ceiling heights yet light, white and simple only limited by the plasterboard partitions dividing them.
This was an exercise in livable volume, a family of 6, all of whom live and share this multiple universe, each with their own place.