Description:

Transformation of an ancient farmhouse into a home in Chamboirat

This project’s aim was to transform an ancient farmhouse into a family home in Chamboirat, a small hamlet in Auvergne’s countryside. This two-century-old barn was a common agricultural heritage in this part of France. Once inside, we discovered what made this place exceptional: 9-meter-high stone masonry walls, a complex wooden framework, and fantastic volumes. The whole place showcased remarkable materiality. When our client shared with us his wish to turn it into a home where he could gather his family for years to come, we agreed that this intervention should primarily respect the distinctive character of the place. To achieve this, we prioritized a careful and subtle rehabilitation, favouring the continuation of its built culture over disruptive actions. This is why we emphasized the use of minimally processed local materials and artisanal techniques, inspired by the craftsmanship employed in the original construction of the building two hundred years ago. The stone walls were stabilized through lime chainings and selective repairs using cut stones, and then coated with insulation made from lime and hemp, finished with a lime-sand mix. The existing framework, preserved down to the struts, was complemented by new oak beams, rafters, and planks, treated to ensure a unified appearance between the old and new parts. Transforming this farm building into a gathering place required creating a large central space where the whole family could come together. We therefore removed the stable wall that divided the central area in two, allowing for an open volume that encompasses the shared spaces: kitchen, dining room, and living room. To open this area to the back garden, we created a large opening in the north facade, mirroring the existing gateway on the south facade. This new aperture was constructed with cut stone jambs and large solid oak lintels. Outside, the only modifications to the facades were the addition of white wooden shutters and glazed oak windows, while the existing outer coatings and exposed stones were intentionally left as they were. Finally, all the bedrooms and bathrooms have been placed in the east and west wings, which were formerly habitable. Four openings were made in the partition walls to connect them to the central area. These partition walls were also extensively chipped and repointed so that the stone they are made of would be visible inside, echoing the materiality of the removed stable wall. A range of targeted actions allowed us to provide the edifice with longevity and comfort without betraying its nature.

MCV

This project demonstrates how well-thought-out interventions can transform old buildings into functional and attractive spaces without losing their original charm. It is an example of respect and innovation in architecture. In transforming the old farm into a dwelling, the architects harmoniously combined several architectural styles, creating a modern home with rustic accents.

Arpad Zachi

A Minuet

When we request projects for one of the magazine's themes, the response, when it exists, is generally pragmatic, technical, within the limits of polite, conventional language (obviously, our letters to them are the same). In recent years, the project section is subsumed by the theme of the issue, an unconventional and challenging theme for the field of architecture. And this is precisely to draw attention, awaken bewilderment, and stir the curiosity of architects, so that they feel the need for even a small dialogue with us. This usually boils down to, very rarely, requesting clarifications regarding the connection, as we see it, between the theme and their project. Further dialogue is consumed in silence, in each person's solitude. This is also how Gabriel Verret proceeded. I replied that: "a connection between the theme and their house might exist only in my imagination (although, I hope not). For me, the first impression often counts. In the case of their project, I felt a certain vibration, I deciphered a murmur like a melody, I envisioned a sensitive and personal interpretation of a well-known and banal score. The Little Prince says: „... we awaken this well and it sings...”[1]. He appreciated this "profound and poetic" response and sent me two short CVs and a press kit. From these, I could deduce their interest and concern, on the one hand, for the theory and history of architecture (a solid professional culture), and on the other hand, for traditional materials, techniques, and crafts. They write:

"Attention to the site, its history, its uses, and its inhabitants shapes our work as the scale of projects has grown. This understanding of the 'place' continues to guide us in choosing the resources we mobilize for our projects. Beyond the ecological aspect, using local, biocompatible, or reclaimed materials gives us the opportunity to support the transformation of a place while respecting its unique character. Implementing these materials also sometimes requires new skills, or other times, some often. That's why artisans and craftsmen occupy a central place in our design process. We believe that involving their expertise in the act of construction, from the very beginning of the work, contributes to preserving the originality and authenticity of that place."

In my opinion, just as a good text should flow when you read it, following a melodic thread (having its own melody[2]), so too should a true house tell or inspire a story, and you should have the willingness, capacity, and freedom to read or imagine that story.

How did Axel Cornu and Gabriel Verret manage to do this, transforming an ordinary farm building, two centuries old[3], into a family home? By ordering the spatial-temporal elements, fixing and centering them for coherence, on the one hand, and by re-composing and reassembling the stylistic and functional elements, orienting and directing them for consistency in expressiveness and discourse, on the other. I don't know if the two axes of symmetry were deliberately introduced as part of the composition's structure or if they are the result of a symmetrical cut with the barn door, the demolition of the separating wall of the stable, and the arrangement of the unique resulting space which includes the kitchen, dining room, and living room, lined up and centered on the same direction. I also don't know if these axes existed, in some form or another, latently in the initial construction. In the end, it is less important to know their origin; what remains significant or becomes significant is their meaning and purpose in the realized project. Thus, there is an axis in the south-north direction that traverses the house and disappears into the horizon, a visual axis that opens the interior space to the exterior countryside landscape of the high plateau of the Massif Central. The second axis, short, perpendicular to the first, is an interior one and centers and orders the interior space. It also supports a vertical plane of symmetry, a third axis, the vertical one, which introduces and integrates the temporal and cultural dimension of the place as well as the fire.

The central space, through its dimensions, but especially through its proportion, with its vertical dominance, visible wooden framework, and its stone walls, oriented west-east, with the marked location of the fireplace, reminds one of the space of a central nave in a Romanesque or medieval ecclesiastical building. This gives the space an air of solemnity, restrained elegance, and a sense of spiritual elevation. Contributing to this are the linear arrangement on the transverse (anthropic) axis of functional spaces and their specific furniture; the limited palette of pale and natural colors, all belonging to a minimalist modernism in consonance with the simplicity, sobriety, and roughness of medieval materiality. This whole assemblage recalls in my memory the ceremonial character of moments and places of (re)meeting, gathering of family members, and whispers in my ear the sounds of a minuet[4].

In contrast with the order (symmetry) of the space and arrangement in the central axis, a few counterpoints[5] are created on the margins by freely and independently placing some singular pieces of furniture (a cabinet, a wardrobe, a library, from the 18th or 19th century), a few plates and ceramic vessels, a wooden sculpture. Thus, they become, from simple functional and/or decorative objects, true works of art. Works of art not in a formal or institutional sense, but in a sensitive, personal one in which they re-memorize and revive in us a world of thoughts and feelings, of living and knowing, hidden within us. To be honest, I hadn't realized until now what consonance[6] exists between minimalism (medieval austerity) and modern minimalism[7].

And one last thing I want to reveal a fact, which I understand and can accept it, but still causes me cognitive dissonance. This refers to the way in which the old, simplistic, and impoverished exterior is preserved and renovated, lacking personality and charm, in total contradiction with the understanding, skill, sensitivity, and discreet elegance of the regeneration of the interior space. Often, rules and regulations generated by the best intentions, by political correctness, can become counterproductive, functioning as insurmountable barriers in the path of the musicality and harmony of an intervention.

4K I. J. Paderewski - Minuet in G major Op 14 No 1 | Anna Lipiak

[Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590pzPl2iUI)

Endnotes

[1] Răzvan Hristescu, a college colleague, used to say: for a project to be considered good, "it must sing," like a melody pleasant to the ear.

[2] MELODY, melodies, n. f. A succession of sounds combined according to the rules of rhythm and modulation, forming a unit with expressive meaning. ♦ Musical composition, song. ♦ Fig. Pleasant sound; harmony, musicality. – From Greek Melodía, Italian Melodia, French Mélodie.

Source: DEX '09 (2009)
[3] Although this construction is only two centuries old, its typology can be found somewhere at the beginning of the feudal period. It was an animal shelter (barn), hay storage, for storing crops, agricultural tools, and maintenance tools (granary). The dwelling, as we call it today, was an annex to the main space and was rather a refuge from bad weather and an overnight shelter.
[4] Although this construction is only two centuries old, its typology can be found somewhere at the beginning of the feudal period. It was an animal shelter (barn), hay storage, for storing crops, agricultural tools, and maintenance tools (granary). The dwelling, as we call it today, was an annex to the main space and was rather a refuge from bad weather and an overnight shelter.
[5] COUNTERPOINT n. 1. Technique in musical composition, consisting of the superposition of two or more independent melodic lines, each with its own meaning, but forming together an organic whole; polyphony, counter-theme. – From Italian Contrappunto, French Contrepoint.

Source: DEX 09 (2009)

[6] Consonance, successive (especially) simultaneous relationship of sounds whose hearing produces an agreeable impression of balance, relaxation. The notion remains predominantly in the psychological sphere, "the impression constituting" – despite its subjective nature – the defining element of consonance.

Source: DTM (2010)
[7] I remember the words of Mihai Pienescu, my editorial colleague, "for me, Architecture is that which precedes the Renaissance and re-starts with Modernism."
[8] DISSONANCE (< fr., lat.) n. 1. (MUSIC) Lack of consonance; relationship between two or more sounds of different pitches, which, when heard simultaneously, produce a sensation of tension, instability. 3. (PSYCH.) Cognitive dissonance = a tense state of the subject (individual) generated by the coexistence of contradictory elements of knowledge regarding the same subject or by the disagreement between attitude and reality. Cognitive dissonance requires an effort from the individual to achieve the necessary cognitive balance.

Source: DE (1993-2009)