Old stone walls contrast with crisp white surfaces inside this converted barn in southern France, which architect Michaël Menuet has transformed into an workplace and showroom for furnishings retailer Objekto .
Marseille-primarily based Menuet was tasked with renovating a dilapidated roadside framework in the village of Peynier, Aix-en-Provence, which seems to be out across the countryside in direction of the limestone ridge of Montagne Sainte-Victoire.
Objekto is a French company that is a licensed distributor of furniture and items by renowned Brazilian designers like Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Mauricio Klabin and Rafic Farah.
The firm wanted an workplace and showroom that supplies an acceptable atmosphere for displaying a selection of these pieces, so Menuet developed an interior with interconnected rooms and a gallery-like feel.
“Like a museum, the building puts the emphasis on the furniture becoming presented,” the architect said in a undertaking statement.
“The continuity of the floors, walls and ceilings of the first floor creates a homogeneous room that is white and timeless.”
To obtain the bright and open spaces necessary, the building’s original pitched roof was raised somewhat to provide a increased ceiling on the initial floor, and new openings had been added to the two primary elevations.
Related story: Munarq transforms an old farmhouse into an artwork studio and gallery in Mallorca
The additional apertures include 4 bay windows – three on the very first floor and one on the ground floor – that sit flush against the external walls and are flanked by angled walls that stretch from floor to ceiling.
The windows supply excellent spots to place furniture so visitors can seem out across the Provence landscape. From outside, the minimal frames offer a contemporary counterpoint to the stone.
At the centre of the plan is a complete-height wall that extends above both amounts, marking the division between the reception and storage room on the ground floor, and the workplace and showroom upstairs.
The central wall does not stretch across the total width of the interior, so as to retain the connection between the numerous spaces. On the first floor in certain, there are no doors or partitions separating the two rooms.
A staircase with cantilevered treads is supported by the stone wall, which contrasts with the white surface opposite it.
On the upper degree, this contrast is accentuated by an even greater abundance of white, utilized to the bulk of surfaces and fitted cabinetry.
“The absence of baseboards, the white lacquered storage cabinets, the open angles of the window framing and the constant ceiling up to the woodwork are all aspects that dematerialise the office and showroom room,” Menuet mentioned.
“This whiteness is only interrupted by the shear stone walls and the views of the surrounding countryside, producing the creating far more tangible in area and time.”
A fireplace inserted into a segment of the white central wall is lined with glass on the two sides to allow a see in between the two rooms. The forms and textures of the furniture provide the strongest presence in the otherwise neutral spaces.
Other examples of agricultural buildings offered a new and diverse function contain a barn in Brittany converted into an artist’s studio and a timber-lined architectural archive slotted inside the stone walls of a constructing on a farm in England.
Photography is by Edwige Lamy.
Site plan 
Ground floor plan 
1st floor plan 
Cross section 
Lengthy section
