Short recap Le Voyage à Nantes wants to rehabilitate and glorify the vineyard of Nantes by offering an innovative travel and furniture along the Sèvre waterside. Embarquement is an atypical and poetic project which draw inspiration from the industrial history of La Haie‐Fouassière harbour. Benches and tables fit in a mid‐water space which has seen numerous exchanges and travels. These furniture are the contemporary interpretation of the washerwomen’s wheelbarrow and market stall. The general shape of these wheelbarrows‐benches invites us to bask and daydream. Funny moving animals, they are easily adaptable to various uses. Thanks to the triangular shape they are ajustable and can be combined. Conceived as amphibian and submersible objects, these structures are made of wood laths salvaged from old windows.
Designed by the Ferpect group with the cooperation of 100 detours (woodcraft) and Francois Lebot (metal manufacturing).
Presentation Le Voyage à Nantes wants to rehabilitate and glorify the vineyard of Nantes by offering an innovative travel and furniture along the Sèvre waterside. The vineyard is located in the southeast of Nantes. It corresponds to the zone of the AOC Muscadet sur Lie and is crossed by a tributary of the Loire: the Sèvre. The Sèvre traveled from the North of Nantes to the south of Clisson. The work between the tourist office of the vineyard and Nantes tourism emphasize the territory by his various innovative project. Today they want to offer a touristic path to discover the singularity of this territory. In this context, the mayor of La Haie‐Fouassière wishes to rehabilitate the harbour to stimulate new uses of the place. It deals with the conception of seating furniture, two staircases, rehabilitation of a small building named “ la tomate” and the invention of easily manoeuvrable furniture.
Along the Sèvre, several harbour reveal a strong industrial past. La Haie‐Fouasière knew an intense activity in the transport of sand. The sand was taken in wooden barge and was pulled by men or horses trough the towpath. Boats were use for the transport of wine and lime. The site has been modelled by human activity near the river. Formerly a restaurant and a refreshment were establish on this port. Today this port is used on summer for picnic, walks, fishing and boating.
The project is inspired by the old forms used for the transport of material. To stimulate the exchange between the river and its bank, we propose various uses and objects : Strange vehicles, collective platforms, egnimatic iceberg‐rafts, rolling furniture invite the visitors to wander in the vineyard, take a nap, or have a meal in the Sevres riverbed. La Haie‐ Fouassière is a moving and mid‐water space. To adapt our project to this impredictable space, the furnitures are amphibian and submersible.
With the cooperation of 100 detours (woodcraft) and Francois Lebot (metal manufacturing), the Ferpect group designed furniture using reclaimed material, paying hommage to the typical Loire « punt » often built out of recycled wood from bigger sailboat. First, let’s take a piece of this wood to create a small craft, then let’s add more pieces to transform it offering new uses, and finally, let the locals and visitors enjoy it and making it their own. Embarquement is a sensible work around the crossbreeding of different eras, woods and uses.
Wheelbarrow‐bench for 4 people, chairs The wheelbarrow‐bench comes from the desire to move from hillsides to waterside, to bask under the shades of the Sèvre’s edges, to enjoy the landscape alone or accompanied. This furniture is the contemporary interpretation of the washerwomen’s wheelbarrow. Trough this reference, the project aims to create new uses and gatherings by the river. Life jackets will be bring down to the canoe the same way the laundry was brought to the river. The bench suits for 4 people and can be used to transport the chairs. The folding Fermob chair is composed of a metallic armature and is covered with the same wooden slates as the bench.
The planking (3cm x1cm) is made of wood salvaged from old windows, coming from varied and crossed wood types, mainly exotic red and brown oak. This wood grid, by its shades, evokes garden furniture, arbours, and market stall.
Table for 6 people Tables are designed in the same idea. The thin planks are "unwound" on the metallic structure (2cm x 2cm tubes). The shape is deliberately conceived to let the imagination run free. The structure has been refined in order to reduce its weight and to make the furniture more manoeuvrable. One person can sit down near the handles of the wheelbarrow‐table.
Rehabilitation of the kiosk A very simple device of wood slats supported by a steel frame is proposed on all the openings of the tomate. The purpose is to secure the building against the intrusion as well as to animate the volume. Wood slats and ornemental brick are married together to lighten the building. Closed it looks like a dryer or a barn, and the shadows on the wall create a mysterious atmosphere. Once open, the shutter turns into a canopy above the little square to welcome visitors.
