THE GLASS HOUSE
The multi-award-winning French architect and urban planner has designed a luminous cocoon in Carantec, Brittany, for a client suffering from progressive and irreversible sight loss. For Odile Decq, "housing should follow people's lives, not the other way around". This opalescent parallelepiped glass house is a good example. Natural light is at the heart of the architectural process. The patio acts as a transition between exterior and interior, opening onto the double-height living space that includes a lounge, open kitchen and dining room. Two bedrooms are located on the first floor, and a third, with en-suite bathroom, is upstairs, accessed by a glass staircase. To create a radiant, comfortable and homogenous atmosphere, translucent walls were used between facades and roof, constructed from two light-diffusing insulating "double-glazed" panels. This avoids shadows, while providing solar protection. Taking advantage of the homogeneity of natural light, Odile Decq also studied artificial lighting, fixed to the roof structure, while peripheral spotlights installed along the façade emit a soft, diffused light at nightfall. Landscaping completes the beauty of this glass house, in harmony with local plant species.
