Modernisation and extension of the Repos Maternel in Gradignan (France)

The Repos Maternel is a shelter for pregnant women and young mothers of 18 and over, looking after one or several children, who are cut off from their families and socially and financially vulnerable. Located in the heart of the town of Gradignan (near the city of Bordeaux) in a wooded park, the Château Lafon, a large country house built in 1920, provides residents with accommodation, support services and communal areas. Outbuildings scattered through the park housed a nursery, offices, and three halfway-house units for large families. As part of the modernisation and extension programme, all of these collective services have been retained and adapted to the needs of the institution.

The positive image of the “château” and its representation in the collective imagination form the first basis for our project. The second aim is to minimise the impact of the project on the park, keeping as many trees as possible. The project is sympathetic to its setting and aims to preserve the park and the architecture of the “château”, highlighting the latter’s historic features and preserving the views of its façades.
From a programmatic point of view, the design aims to make best use of the positive image of a château standing in its grounds in order to help rebuild the self-esteem that women staying in the facility may all too easily lack. In terms of the landscape and environmental setting, the park and château form a coherent whole that merits preservation: any form of visible extension would have adversely affected its architectural integrity and its relationship with the landscape.
In order to group together the main components of the programme and to make it possible for residents to fully enjoy the prestige and charm of the house, all the residential units have been kept inside the “château” itself. Ancillary functions have been placed in a sunken extension that continues on from the existing basement level, surrounding an open patio that provides a compromise between discreetness and visual attractiveness. The extraneous constructions added over the years on the perimeter of the “château” have been demolished. The side façades, which are the same depth as the ha-ha, are flanked by wide sunken areas bringing in as much natural light as possible. Making the “château” stand on a flat green expanse in this way means that the topography of the park and the characteristics of the building have both been retained.
An independent building near the château houses all the administrative offices. Like the outbuildings around the château, it is a single-storey timber-clad building like a small house with a pitched roof. It position and simple design are in keeping with its function, leaving the “château” to fulfil its role as the centrepiece of the site.

The park is a listed woodland area whose oldest trees are about a century old. The approach to the landscaping focuses on the arrangement of the trees in the park and the way their leafy crowns frame the view, to which the lawns lend a sense of unity.
To close off the perspective towards the east and guide the eye towards the château and its new entrance, tall-growing trees of the same varieties as the existing ones, especially oak and lime, have been planted here and there along the redesigned driveways. The ground that covers the extension to the château and integrates it into the park is covered with a flower meadow that continues on from the existing area, covering the uneven ground and banks that reach as far as the foot of the building, where a low-lying strip of perennials brings in light. The rim of the roof of the sunken extension provides a “plinth” for the upper garden and the château. The soft grasses and masses of flowers planted in this garden reinforce the plinth-like effect and form a gently moving cloud. The upper garden, disconnected from the park, thus acquires the status of a private, protective, reassuring area that residents can enjoy.