A postmodern house

Just 2 minutes from the château park and 10 minutes’ walk from the centre of Compiègne, the house enjoys an exceptional location, with immediate access to local amenities (shops, schools) as well as numerous sports and leisure activities (tennis, riding centre, rowing, etc.).

It is about 1 hour from Paris by car or train.

This house is an ingenious response to the challenge of building within the protected perimeter of Compiègne castle.

Its fan-shaped layout opens wide towards the south and the garden. The angled layout, supported by an existing rubble stone wall, frees up the plot and maximises the available garden space while preserving the property’s hundred-year-old trees, in an organic approach reminiscent of the work of Dominique Zimbacca and Jacques Labro.

Inside, the absence of right-angles creates a rich spatial effect that alternates ample volumes with more intimate corners, offering great freedom of use. The absence of doors in the living areas creates a fluid flow between the different rooms. The large glazed areas let in natural light and create a permeable relationship with the outside.

The villa is part of the post-modernist movement, which runs counter to the modern desire for formal innovation, based on the principle of a clean slate. It is expressed by multiple references to the archetypal forms of European architecture and by a return to classical composition and ornament, in a relationship with history that oscillates between homage and pastiche.

The house features a rigorous layout and a theatrical approach to the living spaces, highlighting architectural elements such as the yellow lacquered columns, combined with a Californian-inspired purity. In one of the bedrooms, the integrated furniture is inspired by the eclectic and colourful work of American designer Hilton McConnico, creating a dreamy, bluish cocoon in the sleeping area.

A graduate of the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in 1982 and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in 1985, architect and urban planner Pascale Seurin has run her own architectural practice in Paris’s 19th arrondissement since 1987.

His agency mainly delivers hospital, medical-social, cultural and educational facilities throughout France, including a dozen media libraries. Each project is carried out using a total design approach, from the urban scale, taking account of neighbouring buildings and the public space, right through to the interior decoration.

Its projects include the media libraries in Bayeux (2015), Jarny (2014) and Massy (2012); the extension of the women’s and children’s centre in Chartres (2015); the emergency departments in Peronne (2010) and Créteil (2009)…

Pascale Seurin also creates large-scale paintings for hospital buildings (Institut Curie) with a therapeutic artistic approach to patient comfort.

Its work is also marked by the implementation of High Environmental Quality approaches.