This is the former Village Vacances Familles (VVF) built by the MTA firm (Marot-Tremblot Associés) in 1979, located 500 meters from the beach of Lac d'Orient, the third largest artificial lake in France with 23km². It is one of the four large reservoir lakes of the Seine designed to protect Paris from flooding, they were built as a diversion from the Seine between 1950 and 1960. This one was put into service in 1966 and is part of the Forêt d'Orient National Park, like the neighboring lakes of Amance and Temple.

 

The existing post-modern architecture offers a rather sophisticated interpretation of vernacular forms and takes advantage of the volumes generated by the sloping roofs to occasionally create spaces of greater height. The complex included twenty apartments spread over three buildings, a reception building with a studio and a family home for the caretaker.

The buildings are arranged around a clearing on a wooded background composed mainly of oaks, hornbeams and ash trees. Three buildings of ordinary architecture were added in 1995. The departmental council of Aube, owner of the buildings, seeks to transform the former holiday village into a hotel for a private tenant. The 30 apartments will be redeveloped into 64 hotel rooms. The rehabilitation project has completely preserved the original character of the existing buildings.

 

We added two new buildings to this complex: a 600m2 restaurant and a 450m2 swimming pool. The two buildings are installed on either side of the reception building, according to the initial logic, around the clearing. The new buildings take up the shapes and volumes of the MTA buildings, however we have chosen to use contemporary materials. The choice of the construction system fell on a metal structure compatible with the clayey and humid nature of the soil, capable of offering us generous volumes free of load-bearing points.

The sliding aluminum joinery allows a fluid interior/exterior relationship, they take up the dark color (walnut) of the pre-existing woodwork. On the outside, the luminous and changing natural aluminum cladding contrasts with the intimate black facades inside.