Random House Review #3- Europe

Stone House, Croix Rousse

     + France, Perraudin Architects 2010

photo courtesy of Perraudin Architects

Cette maison est entièrement faite de pierre afin de refléter les vieux bâtiments autour.

Just kidding, I don't speak french at all. Actually I did, but that was a long time ago, or I actually used Google translate, but you'll never know that.

By looking at the picture, the first reaction to viewers would be the architect's intention to match the house with the surrounding buildings. That is correct.

Perraudin Architects, a firm based in France (vive le France!) is a quite known firm for designing sustainable architecture and preservation. In this case, the firm has taken the most notable material-stone- as its primary construction material.

The house, which is located in Croix Rousse, a dense district in Lyon once known to produce silk, is an L-shaped two-storey family house made entirely out of limestone. It is a very spacious house owing to its double volume spaces and large floor to ceiling window openings carrying heavy oak floor structures. The most notable pieces includes the open plan double volume kitchen, dining and living room and a garden with an elevated swimming pool.

The architect's reason of using limestone is because of its cheap resource and production. Manufacturing limestone is costly but with that comes good quality. Thus the construction is much cheaper than if with concrete. Also, limestone can be a good load bearing material with its good thermal mass, absorption of humidity, durability and longevity properties. One theme the architect did was the use of cutting stone to angles to shape the house.

photo courtesy of Perraudin Architects and Dezeen

photo courtesy of Perraudin Architects

In my opinion, it would be a very good house for a family as the use of open plan encourages family interaction while it still maintains privacy with separated bedrooms and bathrooms. One problem is the lack of vegetation and drainage. In addition, I know that some people would want to fill all the interior space and walls with ornaments, paintings and decorations because it lacks completion. But they're wrong, leaving the exposed limestone creates harmony with nature.

Until next time
à bientôt!