La Maison Pliée
La Maison Pliée is a minimalist residence located in Loctudy, France, designed by Figura. The house demonstrates a particular approach to passive design where architectural gesture and structural material become inseparable from environmental strategy. Built entirely from cross-laminated timber panels, the structure performs triple duty as framework, interior finish, and thermal mass. This integration recalls the material honesty of Peter Zumthor’s work, yet here the exposed CLT serves not as aesthetic statement but as functional protagonist in the building’s low-tech heating and cooling system.
The asymmetrical roof creates what the architects describe as varied facial expressions, but this formal play serves pragmatic ends. To the west, the generous overhang shades domestic spaces during summer months while allowing lower winter sun to penetrate. The eastern facade rises two full stories to capture morning light across agricultural fields. This choreography of envelope and opening positions the building as a solar collector, with a wood-burning stove providing supplemental heat only when passive gains prove insufficient.
The plan unfolds and folds in response to neighboring structures, creating privacy through geometry rather than barriers. This spatial accordion generates what the architects term expansions, moments where interior volume extends toward landscape without formal threshold. A linear garden occupies the space between house and property line, functioning as extended living area and buffer zone simultaneously.
Material choices throughout reinforce the low-tech ambition. Cellulose wadding and wood fiber insulation maintain the bio-based material palette while providing thermal performance that allows the house to approach passive standards without mechanical ventilation systems. The aluminum roof, light in both weight and color, reflects summer heat to maintain interior comfort without air conditioning. These decisions position La Maison Pliée within a growing movement of European residential work that questions whether high-performance buildings require high-tech solutions.
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