House at the Edge frames living tableaux of forest in France
French studio In Sinu Architectes has renovated and extended a woodland house in France, adding large windows to frame painting-like views of the surroundings.
The home is named Maison de l'Orée, or House at the Edge, after its position on the edge of the Fontainebleau forest – a landscape to the southeast of Paris made famous by painters including Paul Cezanne and Théodore Rousseau.
Despite its picturesque setting, the existing home did not address the woodland, and so In Sinu Architectes was tasked with opening it up to these natural surroundings.
The local studio added two extensions to creat e a U-shaped plan that hugs the forest, with large windows framing what it termed "living tableaux" of the landscape.
"The main challenge was to intervene delicately within this strong natural context, opening the building to the forest while maintaining balanced proportions and controlled views," studio founders Cassandre Verdier and Elena Cadouin told Dezeen.
"The extensions were positioned with the existing trees as a key constraint, ensuring that none were removed," they added.
"One of the major gestures of the project lies in the design of the openings, conceived as frames onto the forest and creating living tableaux, echoing the iconic Impressionist paintings inspired by the Fontainebleau forest."
The two timber-framed extensions connect to either end of the existing structure. One of these contains a study and continues the gabled roof of the existing house, while the other contains a dining area finished with a flat roof.
These extensions flank a small courtyard created at the centre of the home, where a formerly blank wall has been replaced with a row of glass doors that connect the central living space directly to the forest.
Both the old and new parts of the home have been united with timber cladding, with latticework sections introduced at the tops of windows and in the new gable end to allow light to filter in during the day and out at night.
Inside, the living area is organised around a fireplace built from a large slab of local Fontainebleau sandstone, accompanied by custom-made wooden furniture pieces intended to echo the textures and colours of the trees outside.
These furnishings are contrasted by a stainless steel kitchen island that was introduced to "reflect the light and movement" of the trees through the home's large, black metal window frames.
"The project brings together architecture, interior spaces, and furniture in a continuous and sensitive expression," said Verdier and Cadouin.
"The custom-made furniture pieces strengthen the intimate connection between the house and its site."
Elsewhere in France, local studio Hauvette & Madani recently completed a home in Paris with wood-lined interiors and large windows overlooking a garden, while MXarchitecture created back-to-back homes in a Parisian suburb that have "adjustable envelopes".
The photography is by Jean-Baptiste Thiriet.
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