Dezeen Magazine

Facade of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall

Jean Prouvé house finds permanent London home in Ladbroke Hall garden

Carpenters Workshop Gallery has unveiled a model of the Jean Prouvé-designed 6x6 demountable house in a London garden created by landscape designer Luciano Giubbilei.

Maison Démontable will be a permanent fixture of the publicly accessible garden at Ladbroke Hall, the west London arts venue that Carpenters Workshop Gallery moved into in 2023.

Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
Maison Démontable is an early model of Jean Prouvé's 6x6 demountable house

It forms the centrepiece of a 1,150-square-metre "hidden oasis" envisioned by Giubbilei, a Tuscan-born, London-based designer who won the Chelsea Flower Show in 2014.

The house is an early model of the structure that the late French architect Prouvé developed to accommodate people made homeless at the end of the second world war.

Interior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
It is the centrepiece of a new garden at Ladbroke Hall

Ateliers Jean Prouvé was commissioned to deliver 800 of the 6x6 demountable houses to be installed in Lorraine and the Franche-Comté regions of France.

The design, which became an influential example of prefabricated architecture, features a patented axial portal frame that supports a modular system of wall and floor panels.

Interior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
The design features an innovative portal frame system

The name, 6x6, refers to the dimensions of the 36-square-metre floorplate, which provided three rooms.

"The earlier models of Prouvé's 'demountable buildings', including Maison Démontable, exemplify the initial stages of his soon-to-be revolutionary innovation in prefabricated housing," said Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

"The structure is simple, Prouvé and his studio reduced the house to its most essential qualities and included his trademark portal frame system."

Interior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
The house also features a modular system of wall and floor panels

Maison Démontable has been completely restored, with the addition of a two-by-six-metre porch.

New windows have been added to the timber walls, while underfloor heating has been installed under the revived parquet floors.

"These restorations were all done to elevate the level of comfort of the structure, without changing its overall design or appearance," added Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

The house stands beside the dining terrace of newly opened restaurant Pollini, which offers outdoor seating for 50 diners. The structure can also serve as a private dining room for up to 18 people.

Exterior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall in garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei
The house sits alongside a new dining terrace

For the rest of the garden, Giubbilei has applied Italian design principles to create a landscape filled with hydrangeas, maple trees and bamboo.

The design grew out of a suggestion from Carpenters Workshop Gallery co-founder Loïc Le Gaillard that it would be a place where he could play hide-and-seek with his children.

Exterior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
Luciano Giubbilei, the Chelsea Flower Show winner from 2014, designed the surrounding garden

The garden was unveiled this week, coinciding with the launch of three new exhibitions at the collectible design gallery.

These include a group show titled Monumental, new works by Australian designer Charles Trevelyan and the latest iteration of the Windy Chair series by British artist Yinka Shonibare.

Ladbroke Hall garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei
The planting include hydrangeas, maple trees and bamboo

The London base of Carpenters Workshop Gallery, which also has venues in New York, Los Angeles and Paris, relocated to Ladbroke Hall in 2023.

Its launch show featured cast-bronze furniture by architect David Adjaye, while recent exhibitions included furniture by the late American artist and designer Wendell Castle.

The photography is by David Brook courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

More images

Exterior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
Exterior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall in garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei
Exterior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall in garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei
Interior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
Interior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
Interior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
Interior of Maison Démountable by Jean Prouvé at Ladbroke Hall
Ladbroke Hall garden designed by Luciano Giubbilei