Project description by jury

This renovation and transformation project of an abandoned farm in the center of Siewiller, a small town in north-east France, creates housing for elderly people. The proposal includes the retrofit of four existing volumes positioned to form a U shape, and the design of a new structure to enclose and focus the complex around the resulting courtyard converted into the core of the shared domestic experience. Beyond the residential units, the common house accommodates spaces for some public facilities, including an office for social services, a small library and a multipurpose room. The courtyard is also designed to occasionally host private or public events, like small local festivals.

The semi-public features of the complex allow its senior inhabitants to maintain and nurture their connection with the community while creating new social aggregation opportunities for the entire village. The architectural language adopted for the renovation process is very respectful of the town’s historical character. The existing buildings are salvaged without altering their original aspects, and the new intervention achieves a dialog with the context while showing a distinct, contemporary aspect. The project privileges the use of local materials, notably wood, stone, straw for insulation and hempcrete, that ensure the low-embedded energy of the complex and offer high environmental performance.

Jury appraisal

Can architecture revive historic rural villages? This is the question addressed by the project which received high praise from the Holcim Awards jury Europe. The revitalization and sustainable development of small towns is a contemporary challenge for architects and urban planners. Social sustainability implies strengthening a place through its community and local identity. The project’s methodology for salvaging both tangible and non-tangible elements of Siewiller, through the discrete and elegant refurbishment of the rural fabric transformed into a retirement home, was recognized as a gesture of great sensitivity that embraces sustainability under the environmental, social and economic aspects.