Year: 2015
Status: Completed
Location: Courtenay, FR
Collaborators: Christian Golden
One hundred and twenty kilometers South-East of Paris, on the fringe of Burgundy, lays the 16th century farmhouse of Biancourt, a bucolic oasis within a sea of wheat fields. Located next to a lake, there was a need for a small shed that would protect kayaks and fishing rods. In terms of design, the structure is quite simple: a covered bridge with barn doors on either end, but in terms of use and effect it became a threshold, mediating the transition from land to water. The main goal was to build a relatively uncluttered form that would host the colorful kayaks. Working closely with a nearby sawmill, each structural member was custom milled and sourced from local timber. Oak was used for the floor structure and Douglas fir for the posts, rafters, purlins, and ridge beam. The two end doors are made from ESB, a stronger and more sustainable alternative to OSB, and coated with a white varnish. The project served as an opportunity to not only focus on design in an abstract manner, but to also delve into issues of constructibility. We opted to build the structure ourselves in an effort to grasp a better understanding of the basic relationship between the architect and their surroundings, as well as the role of tools in the process of making.
Status: Completed
Location: Courtenay, FR
Collaborators: Christian Golden
One hundred and twenty kilometers South-East of Paris, on the fringe of Burgundy, lays the 16th century farmhouse of Biancourt, a bucolic oasis within a sea of wheat fields. Located next to a lake, there was a need for a small shed that would protect kayaks and fishing rods. In terms of design, the structure is quite simple: a covered bridge with barn doors on either end, but in terms of use and effect it became a threshold, mediating the transition from land to water. The main goal was to build a relatively uncluttered form that would host the colorful kayaks. Working closely with a nearby sawmill, each structural member was custom milled and sourced from local timber. Oak was used for the floor structure and Douglas fir for the posts, rafters, purlins, and ridge beam. The two end doors are made from ESB, a stronger and more sustainable alternative to OSB, and coated with a white varnish. The project served as an opportunity to not only focus on design in an abstract manner, but to also delve into issues of constructibility. We opted to build the structure ourselves in an effort to grasp a better understanding of the basic relationship between the architect and their surroundings, as well as the role of tools in the process of making.