Swiss architecture studio Atelier Archiplein renovated and expanded La Villa House in Annecy, France, revamping the house’s ancient interiors.
Located on a hillside overlooking Lake Annecy, the 1960s house was in need of modernization because its “single-purpose rooms” were no longer practical for contemporary use.
To address this problem, Atelier Archiplein renovated the villa’s three floors, which were arranged around its existing concrete structure, and completed extensions to the front and rear of the building.
“The current house dates back to the 1960s and consists of small, independent, single-purpose rooms,” Marlene Leroux, co-founder of the studio, told Dezeen.
“The project aims to deconstruct this spatial configuration, which is no longer in keeping with contemporary uses, by making the entire space available as a common area.”
“This requires extensive structural work, an aspect of the intervention that has become a topic in itself,” she added. “Thus, the structure of the building becomes visible in the interiors, left raw and expressed through a series of parallel piers.”
The 350 square meter villa features a sloping structure topped with an overhanging roof.
The raw exterior finish used to finish the newly insulated facade was chosen by the studio for its association with mid-20th century architecture, and is complemented by brick window sills and timber-framed openings.
Green-hued details, including awnings and railings, are repeated throughout the design.
The residence is accessed via a stepped entrance at the front of the house, opening into an entrance hall where a nook provides storage space. There is a bedroom and bathroom at the opposite end of the villa.
Beyond this space, the house opens into a series of interconnected living spaces, partly divided by load-bearing concrete structures and united by terrazzo floors.
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The central living room, which has a fireplace backed by a thin concrete wall, is flanked on one side by a home office and doors leading to an adjacent balcony on the other.
Behind this, a row of columns, the remains of the house’s previous façade, define the kitchen and dining space.
Large openings designed to enhance views across the lake draw light into the interior, which is defined by white and concrete walls accented with wood details and colorful accents.
“Each load-bearing frame is treated with different shapes that address specific structural and spatial challenges,” Leroux said.
“Despite these significant interventions, the project establishes a clear relationship with the history of the site by exploring the stylistic and color codes of the era of the building’s construction.”
“The newly introduced design elements transport us to a reimagined past,” she added.
A wooden staircase leads from La Villa’s ground floor to the upper floor, where there is an outdoor terrace covered by a green steel fence at the back of the house.
Additional spaces include a basement complete with direct access to the adjacent garden.
Other recently completed homes in France include a house designed to challenge the typical standards of suburban housing in the village of Prades-le-Lys and a restored old farmhouse in Normandy designed to evoke the site’s rural history.
Photography by Aurelien Bulat.
