Latapie House
Floirac, France · 1993
Photo · Philippe Ruault
A key precedent for low-cost, high-spatial-quality residential design using industrial materials like corrugated sheeting and plywood to maximize volume and light.
- What we like about this project
- The juxtaposition of a highly industrial corrugated facade with a traditional decorative wrought-iron street fence.
Materials
- corrugated-fiber-cement
- plywood
- steel
- glass
- concrete-block
- wrought-iron
Visual identifiers
- corrugated-cladding
- plywood-panels
- open-breezeway
- wrought-iron-fence
- sliding-doors
Style tags
- pragmatic
- high-tech
- minimalist
- budget-conscious
Visual tags
- low-cost
- industrial-materials
- suburban-housing
- transparency
- french-modernism
- Geometry
- A simple two-story rectangular volume with a flat roof. The upper level features a continuous horizontal band of corrugated cladding, while the ground floor is divided into bays with sliding timber-framed glass doors and plywood panels.
- Facade system
- Rainscreen of corrugated fiber-cement sheets over timber and steel framing.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel frame with timber infill
- Spatial scale
- Two-story domestic scale, matching the height of neighboring residential structures.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight casting soft shadows beneath the corrugated roof overhang.
- Atmosphere
- An unpretentious, quiet domesticity achieved through raw industrial materials.
- Environmental context
- Situated on a quiet suburban street edge in France, bordered by a traditional wrought-iron fence and low stone wall.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a modest, semi-industrial face to the street, with a wide open garage/breezeway on the left that offers a direct visual connection through to the backyard.
- Composition rhythm
- A tripartite ground-floor division balanced by a continuous, monolithic upper band.
- Style reading
- Pragmatic high-tech minimalism
- Program
- Single-family residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- corrugated-fiber-cement, plywood, steel, glass, concrete-block, wrought-iron
- Visual identifiers
- corrugated-cladding, plywood-panels, open-breezeway, wrought-iron-fence, sliding-doors
- Style tags
- pragmatic, high-tech, minimalist, budget-conscious
- Visual tags
- low-cost, industrial-materials, suburban-housing, transparency, french-modernism
- Geometry
- A simple two-story rectangular volume with a flat roof. The upper level features a continuous horizontal band of corrugated cladding, while the ground floor is divided into bays with sliding timber-framed glass doors and plywood panels.
- Facade system
- Rainscreen of corrugated fiber-cement sheets over timber and steel framing.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel frame with timber infill
- Spatial scale
- Two-story domestic scale, matching the height of neighboring residential structures.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight casting soft shadows beneath the corrugated roof overhang.
- Atmosphere
- An unpretentious, quiet domesticity achieved through raw industrial materials.
- Environmental context
- Situated on a quiet suburban street edge in France, bordered by a traditional wrought-iron fence and low stone wall.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a modest, semi-industrial face to the street, with a wide open garage/breezeway on the left that offers a direct visual connection through to the backyard.
- Composition rhythm
- A tripartite ground-floor division balanced by a continuous, monolithic upper band.
- Style reading
- Pragmatic high-tech minimalism
- Program
- Single-family residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture