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Le Refuge KE01 is a black timber cabin nestled in the dunes of Keremma in Brittany, France, designed by Gayet Roger Architects as a family vacation retreat. Built in 2019, the 850-square-foot cabin (79 square meters) is positioned on a raised platform supported by four-foot-tall metal stilts, which protects it from the area's risk of flooding and preserves the natural terrain. A wooden footbridge connects the entrance of the house to a small path that leads to the nearby beach.
The cabin's design draws inspiration from traditional Scandinavian architecture, featuring a dark exterior that allows it to blend into the surrounding landscape of tall cypress trees. The cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure is insulated with blown-in cellulose wadding and clad with rough-sawn wood strips painted with black Falun-style paint, a durable Swedish pigment. At night, the house disappears into the darkness, with only the illuminated windows visible like hanging lanterns.
Inside, the warm, spruce-clad living spaces are designed with function in mind, stripped of the superfluous. The architects used rough-sawn wood panels for the built-in benches, dining table, shelving, and counters. The open-plan space is punctuated by strategically placed windows that frame specific views of the landscape. The large fixed window in the corner seating nook offers pastoral scenery, while a western bay window can be opened to extend the main room onto the terrace, blurring the line between inside and outside.
Upstairs, the four sleeping areas are designed like small cabins. Each features small, eye-level windows that provide views of the landscape for those lying down and can accommodate two single beds, with a built-in bench on one side and a storage area on the other.
Credits
Architects: Gayet Roger Architects (Aldric Gayet & Anne Gayet)
Location: Tréflez, Finistère, France
Completion Year: 2019
Photography: Pascal Leopold
Foundation: Techno Pieux Nantes Nord
Wood Structure, Insulation, Exterior Joinery, Partitioning & Joinery: SARL Construibois
Plumbing, Sanitary, Ventilation, Electricity & Wood Stove: SARL Kerbaul
Roofing: SARL BCI
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Gayet Roger Architects
About
Gayet Roger Architects:
Gayet Roger Architectes is an architecture firm based in Bordeaux, France. The studio specializes in a range of projects including residential, cultural, and landscape architecture. Founded in 2008, the firm emphasizes contextual and contemporary designs that engage with their surroundings and use materials thoughtfully, often incorporating local resources and knowledge. They are recognized for projects like the Blaye Tourist Office, which uses local stone to blend modern design with historical context, and the Le Refuge KE01 cabin, designed for a coastal environment with a focus on harmony with nature.
