Dezeen Magazine

D House by Lode Architecture

Sliding back the glazed facade allows the upper storey to hang over the open living space of this house in Brittany by French firm Lode Architecture (+ slideshow).

D House by Lode Architecture

Located on the banks of an estuary, the D House by Lode Architecture is split between the open ground floor and a series of smaller rooms on the upper floor.

D House by Lode Architecture

The ground floor has a glazed facade with views down to the water and is centred around an open hearth on one side and a kitchen island on the other.

D House by Lode Architecture

The wooden steps of the staircase fan out into a cube of shelving. "The main issue here was to find a machine capable of cutting such large pieces," architect Arnaud Lacoste told Dezeen. "Then the assembling was a huge puzzle game."

D House by Lode Architecture

Upstairs is a series of smaller rooms with cork flooring and dark grey walls.

D House by Lode Architecture

Two of the bedrooms have their own outdoor balconies screened off by a trellis of narrow chestnut planks.

D House by Lode Architecture

The architects also extended the wooden trellises to wrap around the entire upper storey. "We used it as a rough material, keeping the natural shape of the wood. This rustic manner makes a strong contrast with the sophisticated glazed facade of the lower floor," said Lacoste.

D House by Lode Architecture

We previously featured a house in Brittany with stone screens covering sections of its glazed facade.

D House by Lode Architecture

Other homes in France we've published include a 1970s-inspired beach apartment on the Mediterranean Sea and an angular dark brick extension to a house outside Lille – see all architecture in France.

D House by Lode Architecture

Photographs by Daniel Moulinet.

D House by Lode Architecture

Here's some more information from the architects:


D house, Brittany, France

Lode Architecture, 2012

A house for two. Or for twenty.

Beached on the estuary’s banks, where fresh waters meet rising tides, the D house cultivates contradictions. It can be either a shelter or a reception place, an intimate space or the place for partying. It is driven by opposite currents and its character varies depending on its occupants' moods and natural cycles.

D House by Lode Architecture

When discovering the house, the first thing we catch sight of is the overhanging section. Thanks to a retaining wall, a hollow space appears below. Life is organised here around the hearth, the stairs and a central cooking island.

D House by Lode Architecture

All around you, panoramic views of the undergrowth and beyond the river are offered by the upstairs floor. Wells of light passing through the upstairs floor invite the sky into this blended landscape.

D House by Lode Architecture

On the ground, the stone disappears, the windowed angles fade. We live inside the wood.

D House by Lode Architecture

Upstairs, a succession of small spaces creates a completely different hushed atmosphere. We cross a series of adjoining rooms, lit through wooden trellises which filter the view and dim the light.

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: site plan

From the bedrooms, you can access outside closed‐in spaces to get fresh air or sunbathe above the living‐room. Nature is all around and envelopes you.

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: ground floor plan - click above for larger image

The contrasting façades reflect the duality of these spaces. In very different ways they both adopt the same strategy of camouflage: the reflections of the leaves on the glazed surfaces, or the cladding made of untreated planks which imitate the surrounding nature and whose texture merges in the woody environment.

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: first floor plan - click above for larger image

Sophistication and rusticity, abstraction and materiality, the architecture of the house plays with dialectical sets, just like a landscape drawing its strength from the confrontation of the elements.

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: north elevation

Completion date: 2012
Area: Brittany, France

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: south elevation

Dimensions: L 16.10m x l 9.20m x h 6.00m
Living area: 250 m2

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: west elevation

Structure: concrete walls, steel frame, crosswise laminated timber panels
Façade materials : high insulation glass surfaces, chestnut cladding

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: east elevation

Flooring materials: stone, cork
Furniture materials: chestnut, laminated veneered lumber (stairs)

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: cross-section AA

Heating system: geothermal heat pump with vertical collectors
Collaborators: Arnaud Lacoste / Jérôme Vinçon

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: cross-section BB

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: cross-section CC

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: cross-section DD

D House by Lode Architecture

Above: cross-section EE