The “hourglass” house is home to a family of five peoplein the heart of the greater Vannes district. It is located in a protected area by a river which flows out into the Atlanticclose by in the Golfe du Morbihan, in a cyclical landscape that changes with the tides. Developed in the 1960s, the neighbourhood in which it is somewhat unusual features suburban low-rise housing marked by the neo-Breton style. From the street, the land falls sharply away towards the river bank.

The house stands on the first sloping ledge, on the same level as the street. It marries the slope’s incline with a lower floor. Suspended from its metal frame, an upper floor is set balanced on the elongated concrete volume of the ground floor. An interplay of shifts points to the general notion, divided between the gentle sunshine to the south and beauty,but the chilliness of the large landscape to the north. The house is very distinctive as a result of these “lopsided” elements and the abundance of glass surfaces, and owes its cadenced silhouette first and foremost to a landscape-related analysis which made it possible to single out three horizontal layers, offering very contrasting viewpoints and atmospheres: beside the water, in the trees, and above the trees. Three very identifiable levels are thus defined, with the spectacular cantilevers acting as an awning, making it possible to subtly adjust the daylight entering the building.

Through its paths and its configuration, the house, which is close to its occupants’ work place, functions like a physical and temporal antechamber. A decompression chamber to slow things down and take the time to observe, read, and talk…