L House

TR

ALTA renovated and extended a family house in Dinard, France. The office describes the project as follows:

L House is located in the heart of Dinard, in a residential area alongside semi-detached stone townhouses and detached houses with gardens. In order to preserve and enhance the historical character of the house we demolished the existing poor-quality single-storey outbuildings. The house was then completely renovated to the highest standards including the existing stone boundary walls.

Situated in a cul-de-sac, the existing house is composed of two volumes on two levels. To the east, it is aligned with a shared boundary line and to the west a passage gives access to the house entrance and the garden at the bottom of the plot. In response to the client's wish for an open space overlooking the garden, we created an extension that reflects the surrounding urban context.

The new single-storey extension partly follows the line of the demolished volumes on the north side of the house and extends to the property line. The extension is a simple rectangular volume finished in a single materiel of natural slate on both roof and façades. The location of the building on the eastern boundary and its angular volumetry creates a large garden area to the west which allows the building to profit from afternoon sunlight. The creation of three large arched windows which echo those on the house give an expansive view of the garden.

This acknowledgement of the existing comes from a desire to bring a global sense of harmony to the project allowing its’ uniqueness to show through while blending seamlessly with the surrounding neighbourhood.

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