The New Magnanery | 2024, Anas Koubaiti, France

Architects: KAPT Studio
Lead Architect: Anas Koubaiti & Théo Pagnon
Client: Elsa Brès & Gaëlle Boucand
Photographer: KAPT Studio

In the Cévennes nature Park, the conversion of this former mid-18th century silkworm farm into a residence involves reconfiguring the existing levels and creating an additional one. The existing floors are linked by a double height vertical circulation and open onto the surrounding mountain landscape.

The addition, which deliberately differs from the existing building, is a contemporary interpretation of the ancestral principle of the "magnanerie", where sericulture was practiced. Its evanescent volume inspired by the cocoons of silkworms fits delicately into the geometry of the existing and preserved roof slopes.

This new magnanery, both a place to live and a family retreat, revisits neo-vernacular architecture while favoring local and bio-sourced materials. All construction materials removed from the existing structure are re-injected into the project.

The interventions are dosed by paying close attention to the construction logic of the existing architecture. The old and the new blend into a coherent system, with a desire to keep.