Cap Ferret House
Cap Ferret, France · 1998
Photo · Lacaton & Vassal
A seminal precedent for biophilic and low-impact residential architecture, demonstrating how a lightweight steel structure can preserve and incorporate mature pine trees directly within the interior living space.
- What we like about this project
- Living pine trees grow vertically through custom circular cutouts in the floor and ceiling plates.
Materials
- polished-concrete
- steel
- glass
- aluminum
- living-trees
Visual identifiers
- indoor-trees
- sliding-glass-walls
- exposed-ceiling-joists
- polished-concrete-floor
- panoramic-water-view
Style tags
- high-tech
- ecological
- minimalist
- industrial-materials
Visual tags
- biophilic-design
- inside-outside
- lightweight-structure
- coastal-dwelling
- open-plan
- Geometry
- A wide, low-slung horizontal volume defined by a grid of slender columns and a exposed metal joist ceiling, punctuated by vertical tree trunks passing directly through the floor plate.
- Facade system
- Floor-to-ceiling sliding aluminum-framed glass doors.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel frame with concrete slab-on-grade.
- Spatial scale
- A single-story, open-plan living space with a low ceiling height that emphasizes the horizontal panorama.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight from the exterior water-facing facade contrasts with the deep, shaded interior, casting sharp shadows and highlights across the polished floor.
- Atmosphere
- A serene, shaded sanctuary where the boundary between domestic interior and coastal pine forest is entirely blurred.
- Environmental context
- Sited on a pine-covered slope overlooking a bay with boats, where the natural topography and vegetation are integrated directly into the house.
- Spatial experience
- The interior dissolves into the landscape through a continuous wall of sliding glass doors, creating a seamless transition to a raised deck overlooking the water while preserving the existing pine trees within the living volume.
- Composition rhythm
- A regular structural grid of slender columns is dynamically interrupted by the organic, vertical lines of living pine trunks.
- Style reading
- High-tech ecological minimalism
- Program
- Private residence
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- polished-concrete, steel, glass, aluminum, living-trees
- Visual identifiers
- indoor-trees, sliding-glass-walls, exposed-ceiling-joists, polished-concrete-floor, panoramic-water-view
- Style tags
- high-tech, ecological, minimalist, industrial-materials
- Visual tags
- biophilic-design, inside-outside, lightweight-structure, coastal-dwelling, open-plan
- Geometry
- A wide, low-slung horizontal volume defined by a grid of slender columns and a exposed metal joist ceiling, punctuated by vertical tree trunks passing directly through the floor plate.
- Facade system
- Floor-to-ceiling sliding aluminum-framed glass doors.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel frame with concrete slab-on-grade.
- Spatial scale
- A single-story, open-plan living space with a low ceiling height that emphasizes the horizontal panorama.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight from the exterior water-facing facade contrasts with the deep, shaded interior, casting sharp shadows and highlights across the polished floor.
- Atmosphere
- A serene, shaded sanctuary where the boundary between domestic interior and coastal pine forest is entirely blurred.
- Environmental context
- Sited on a pine-covered slope overlooking a bay with boats, where the natural topography and vegetation are integrated directly into the house.
- Spatial experience
- The interior dissolves into the landscape through a continuous wall of sliding glass doors, creating a seamless transition to a raised deck overlooking the water while preserving the existing pine trees within the living volume.
- Composition rhythm
- A regular structural grid of slender columns is dynamically interrupted by the organic, vertical lines of living pine trunks.
- Style reading
- High-tech ecological minimalism
- Program
- Private residence
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture