A courtyard house drawn around a single old olive tree.
The olive tree was older than every building in the village, and the clients refused to move it. The house was planned around it from the first sketch.
Four low wings enclose a gravel court with the tree at its centre. Every room opens onto it through deep shuttered doors.
Client
Private client
Location
Provence, France
Year
2021
Scope
New-build house
Area
290 m²
Status
Completed
Collaborators
Atelier Roux, landscape
Photography
Studio Void
THE SITE
A house that turns its back to the heat.
Provence summers are long and hot. The outer walls are thick stone with few openings, and all the light comes in from the shaded court.
The tree's canopy shades the court at midday. Its roots set the floor level, which is why the house sits a step lower than the lane.
“We didn't design around the tree so much as ask it where to put the doors.”
Elin Kessler — Founder & Principal Architect
Three materials made for a long, hot summer.
Stone
Local limestone, 600mm walls
Thick enough to hold the night's cool well into the afternoon.
Plaster
Lime render, sand-coloured
Matches the village, and lets the walls breathe.
Timber
Chestnut shutters
Deep doors that close the house to the midday sun.
PROCESS
Sketch to site.
01
Sketch
Mapping the olive's canopy and roots.
02
Plan
Four wings drawn around one tree.
03
Render
Shutter and wall depths tested against the summer sun.
04
Built
Built by village masons over two years.