The town of Pélissanne in Provence was once a fortified town and today has a large number of historic townhouses and landscapes dating from this era that are of great value. This includes the Maureau House, which is situated in the heart of the town. Together with its surrounding and a new extension, the Maureau House is now home to the Pierre Botter Media Library and Park by Dominique Colouon.
Both functional and unique in visual expression, the new Media Library and Park respects both the integrity of the park and the fabric of the existing house while creating a dialogue between the two eras. This includes contrasting the verticality of the existing house against the horizontality of the extension. Internally, the library extension is clear and open in layout, while the historic spatial structure and floor plan of Maureau House is maintained.
Highly flexible, the ground floor of the extension opens up to the surrounding park, with the building’s only curve arching around an existing plane tree. More closed and introverted, the upper floor offers a very different ambience.
Echoing the nature of the surrounding park, a deep green colour is used for furniture, staircases, shutters the door canopy.
More broadly, the town’s authorities have since commissioned the agency to convert a house and public passage linking Moreau Park and the square in front of the town hall. This new connection provides an opportunity for new, non-motorised connections within the town.
