Description
The first passive architect-designed house in France!
CO-EXCLUSIVE – Built in 2009 by the Karawitz architecture studio, this contemporary house is a bioclimatic, positive-energy home, which high environmental quality was recognised by a visit from the Ministre du Logement in 2013, and which has received extensive national and international media coverage.
Set in 600 sqm of wooded grounds on the edge of a forest, it offers 160 sqm of living space over two levels and has a lovely view of the village’s medieval church, a listed historical monument.
The ground floor houses an entrance hall, a vast living room opening on to the garden and comprising a lounge, a dining room and a fitted kitchen, a utility room and a guest toilet. The first floor includes a superb cathedral ceiling study, three bedrooms, each with its own mezzanine, a bathroom and a shower room. Its generous opening onto the garden and its wood-clad walls create a soft, warm atmosphere, in close contact with nature.
A recent project involves the creation of a 3-storey workshop of around 65 sqm, as well as an ecological swimming pool in the garden.
The house was renovated in 2017 by its current owner. It now has a new, sustainable skin made of French chestnut slats, in keeping with its immediate surroundings: the largest chestnut forest in the Parisian region.
It benefits from an unspoilt location, with no overlooking and set back from the public space. It is accessed on one side by a pedestrian cul-de-sac planted with maples and on the other by a driveway planted with trees and shrubs.
The house is located in a quiet, leafy area in the centre of the town of Bessancourt in the Val d’Oise department, just 6 km from Auvers-sur-Oise and its artistic heritage. Paris is easily and quickly accessible via the A115, or by direct train from Gare du Nord in 35 minutes (line H).
Situated between the Montmorency national forest and the Maubuisson forest, the largest forest planted in France since the 17th century and of which Bessancourt is the 2nd largest contributor, the house benefits from a preserved and ecologically committed environment. The current development of a one-hectare public landscaped park around the church and town hall, just a 1-minute walk away, is part of this approach to preserving the landscape and green spaces.
A pioneering housing project
Since its delivery in 2009, this house has enjoyed a remarkable posterity. Published and awarded many times over (selected for the Archinovo Prize 2011), it is an innovative, pioneering project in ecological housing.
Certified passive, it has all the characteristics of a passive house. It is self-sufficient in solar-generated electricity and can regulate the amount of light and passive heating thanks to its wooden skin, which is laid in a grid pattern and consists of large movable panels on the south-facing facade.This envelope gives the building an elegance and an almost sculptural dimension on the scale of the landscape.
The innovative shutters, which fold like an accordion on the two levels of the façade, allow residents to directly influence the porosity between interior and exterior spaces.
This revolutionary energy-efficient design uses a classic rectangular floor plan, whose compactness contributes to its performance. Removable partitions allow the interior space to be modulated, for great flexibility of use.
Between innovation and tradition
The work of the Karawitz architecture studio, with its simplicity, is in keeping with the desire to integrate a contemporary building with the local culture and heritage. The proximity of the medieval church in the centre of the village, which is a listed historical monument requiring the opinion of the Architecte des Bâtiments de France, was one of the guidelines for the project. The architects drew their inspiration from vernacular forms, combining traditional architecture from the Paris region with contemporary design and a profoundly ecological approach.
Karawitz Architecture, Maison Villerez, 2018, Lorrez-le-Bocage (77), sélection Prix Archinovo 2021, © Karawitz
Karawitz architectes
Karawitz, a pioneer architecture studio in bioclimatic housing, was founded in Paris in 2006 by Bulgarian-born architect Milena Karanesheva and Austrian-born architect Mischa Witzmann, who met at Vienna Technical University. After working together in various Austrian and then Parisian offices, the duo founded Karawitz in 2006. Their work soon won them the Vizar, the European architecture prize, and the Special Prize of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture. In 2010, the agency won the Diapason competition for a participatory housing project on the banks of the Canal de l’Ourcq in Paris.
Fourteen years after it was founded, the agency is focusing on four major areas of applied research: the construction of individual and collective housing incorporating bioclimatic principles; participative housing and its role in urban space; the refurbishment and transformation of offices and tertiary buildings; contemporary architecture with a social ambition in areas with a unique climate and history (Congo).
Their intention is to design quality architecture, free from ideology and dogmatism. Their projects always incorporate an ecological dimension, seen as a logical consequence of an approach that respects and conserves environmental resources.
Technical info
Asking price : €800,000 €. Land tax: €2,053
Full ownership
Technical specifications:
Passive house certification
Exterior insulation with cellulose wadding
Triple-glazed windows with argon gas
Made-to-measure photovoltaic panels
Made-to-measure thermal panels for domestic hot water, regulated by heat pump
Central double-flow ventilation
ENERGY CLASS: A / CLIMATE CLASS: A
Estimated average annual energy costs for standard use, based on 2021 energy prices: between €460 and €670.
