Project Name: The Kiosque House

Location: Caen, France

Design Team: arba

Total Floor Area: 110 m²

Completion: 2024

Photography: Jérémie Léon

Feature:

Project - Located at the bottom of a garden in Caen, France, The Kiosque House designed by arba is more than just a residence——it is an innovative practice that transforms residential architecture into a sophisticated gazebo-like pavilion. Positioned like a contemporary folly in a park, the project strictly complies with local urban planning regulations (apart from curves) while challenging conventional housing typologies through ingenious architectural conception.

The most striking element of the project is its unique cross-shaped spatial configuration, arranging four private spaces (bedrooms and bathroom) at the four corners of the structure, where these enclosing walls simultaneously serve as primary load-bearing elements, providing privacy and regulating heat exchange. The resulting cross-shaped common area becomes a natural continuation of the garden——a sheltered garden space, a kind of gazebo-like living experience.

The architectural structure demonstrates remarkable technical innovation. The wooden base is supported by four concrete joists resting on pile foundations (thus isolated from ground moisture), topped by a natural zinc roof with generous standing seams and wide overhang. Most ingenious is the roof geometry——the roof is a developable surface, resulting from the simple deformation of a plane. Each strip of zinc is twisted to follow the rise of the roof that houses the upstairs workshop space.

The plan is simple and clear, symmetrical along its two perpendicular axes, so clear that the architecture itself seems to disappear into the environment. Interior partitions are made of hemp bricks coated with earth, demonstrating commitment to ecological materials.

The Kiosque House thus becomes an architectural expression that seeks to go beyond functionality. It redefines the concept of residential architecture as landscape architecture, creating a dwelling that exists harmoniously within its garden context while providing modern comfort and spatial sophistication——a silent homage to the elegant negotiation of indoor-outdoor living boundaries.

Design Team - arba, established in Paris in 2007, has emerged as a pioneering practice in sustainable and environmentally-responsive architecture over seventeen years of professional excellence. Formalized as an architectural firm in 2011, the studio is led by founding partners architects Jean Baptiste Barache (ENSA Paris-Malaquais, 1998) and Sihem Lamine (École Spéciale d'Architecture, 2002), alongside associate architect Alexandre Simon (ENSA Paris-La Villette, 2017).

arba is dedicated to developing new solutions aimed at building sustainably, affordably, and in close relationship with the natural and built environment. The firm commits to creating functional, minimal, and optimal architectural interventions, where their dual mandate of "providing shelter" and "revealing views" are inseparable, establishing architecture as a mediating device between inhabitants and their natural environment.

The studio's architectural philosophy compares buildings to precision instruments rather than conventional structures. Like musical instruments, lines and forms are pure and minimal while achieving optimal usage. Inhabitants are naturally involved in a game of uses and interactions with the garden, neighbors, landscape, sun, and light.

arba's design methodology integrates budgetary constraints and urban regulations as generative design parameters rather than limiting factors. Through continuous refinement processes, all traces of intention are eliminated, like vernacular architecture. Here, what takes priority are the users, landscape, site, materials, and craftmanship. Their project portfolio demonstrates consistent commitment to sustainable construction methodologies, employing local materials and passive environmental strategies, establishing new benchmarks for contemporary architectural practice.