We open the gate onto the street and a small winding path leads us to the house at the very back. We discover a small fairy garden in the heart of the city of Reims. The clients, a single couple, like to pamper plants, they want to create a living unit on the ground floor to make the most of their garden. We wanted to avoid the 'veranda-type' extension so as not to deprive the existing rooms of a direct view of the outside. The solution was to create an independent left wing, from the street to the existing house, so as to inhabit the garden in its entire length. It includes a succession of volumes, which we wanted to be nuanced, between transparent, translucent and opaque. Here is the sequence that resulted: garage-opaque; workshop-translucent; awning-open; living room/kitchen-transparent.

The house is mono-oriented, all the upper rooms overlook the garden. The polycarbonate roof allows a translucent object with nuances and depth to be seen from the upper floor. We cut the awning so that the lilac foliage stands out above the roof.

Reims | 57 m² | €42,000 of VAT | year of design 2011

Natalina da Costa, Frédéric Hérard | David Cordeuil | sarl Du Frioul | C2M Habitat | SARL Baecker