Listening to the approach of L’Artisan des Pains Oubliés, the parallel seems evident. The way we approach our work, wether it is to make bread or developing an architecture project, have very similar guidelines: 

Taking advantage from the resources, the craftsmanship and revealing it in the work. 

The bakery of the Artisan des Pains Oubliés starts with a family story. Jean Christophe and Thibault, father and son, have thus decided to put aside their respective experiences to design an organic bakery in line with the convictions that we share with them: using the most natural and fresh products. 

In the raw ground floor of a new building, their wish of having an authentic bakery without unnecessary actions wasn’t easy. This is why our discussion firstly focussed on materials, which from our point of view need to be crafted by the hands and tools of the workers. 

The reflexion has rapidly turned around three elements: raw earth plaster, terra cotta and wood. 

The use of bio-based materials encourages architects and craftsmen to immerse themselves in skills that have been forgotten and erased by the modern era. Standardisation, rentability and the velocity of the process takes us away from traditional and durable techniques. The idea is not to reinvent everything but to take advantage of what we know is efficient and combine it with the contemporary aesthetic codes. 

Regarding the layout of spaces, the reflexion has been oriented in a radical simple lecture of the different parts of the program. On the foreground, an accessible public foreground with the retail and lunch, and a background exposing the various tools of the baker, organized around a central masterpiece oven, visual landmark of the bakery. 

Beyond a very passionate duo, this project is also a story based on the unwavering confidence of Jean Christophe and Thibault in our practice. The deeply enthusiastic father and son were always pushing us in our creativity right up to the last studio handmade pieces of ceramic. 

Team:
Architects: Bancaù Architectes
Client: L’Artisan des Pains Oubliés
Photographer: Lorenzo Zandri 

Materials used:
Materials: Local Douglas Wood, Artisanal oven fired terra cotta tiles, Wheat fiber and earth plaster, Lime plaster, Terra cotta bricks walls
Flooring: Custom made, Todobarro
Doors: Custom made, Atelier des Alpes
Interior lighting: Contain Lighting, BL2 Custom made by Bancaù Architectes
Interior furniture: Custom made, Atelier des Alpes
Plaster:Earth plaster, Spideco