A signal in the landscape

The city of Argenvières wanted to equip its cycle loop on the "Loire à Vélo" circuit with two washrooms, a relaxation area and a health course.

The project is located in a meadow on the edge of the village near the bicycle lane and a pond lined with poplars.

The question of building a sanitary block in an exceptional natural environment was delicate. The entire project is developed in relation to the site from which it draws its volumetry, its organization and its poetry. It is the result of different data from the environment.

The building is designed as a promontory that rises towards the alley of poplars in the middle of which a balcony takes position with a perspective on the village church steeple. With its compact mass it generates in the North a great signal for oncoming cyclists while in the South it deploys a resting area sheltered from the wind, rain (polycarbonate awning) and sun (pergola). The washrooms are located under the staircase which constitutes their roof.

Today, the building allows the welcoming of cyclists but is also designed to accommodate rural meetings.

Spruce and douglas fir

The building is made of wood-frame walls (spruce) and a peripheral cladding made of vertical cleats (douglas fir) with a rain screen underneath. The wooden framework (spruce) is integrated in the thickness of the walls.

The balcony is supported by two beams perpendicular to the staircase and resting on the structural walls.

The washrooms have a steel pan roof, located under the stairs.

The cladding finish is done by a grey wood-stain allowing a maintenance-free aging with a uniformity of hue.

The framework was made by the Dubas company and the landscaping designed by Atelier Passages in Bourges.