Architect: Carl Fredrik Svenstedt Architect Location: Les Mesnuls, France Client: Mr and Mrs D / S Project Year: Expected for 2011 Images: Courtesy of Carl Fredrik Svenstedt
The DS house is located on an undulating, wooded site on the edge of the Quatre Piliers forest. The building is oriented North/South in order to link two glades, making the most of existing views of the site. The entrance and the living areas are turned toward the sun, while the bedroom area extends north like a periscope to create views through the trees.
The timber structure is clad with an open wooden lattice, an ordered and abstract grid giving scale to the site. The structural frame organizes a series of courtyards and long, narrow rooms, to create a sinuous circulation system inside the house.
The sequence of internal and external spaces generates views that are always multiple: from the inside through other rooms, through courtyards and further rooms, and through to the trees outside of the house.
The wood house is designed with respect to the main principles of sustainable development. The ambition is to create a healthy and luminous home, consuming little energy and in harmony with the site and the surroundings.
The D/S House won the Lauriers du Bois, the French National Timber Construction Prize, for 2010.
