Fichtre is a Nantes-based studio made up of Thomas Cantin, Wilfrid Lelou and Frédéric Péchereau – all three of them architects, visual artists, and builders. For 20 years, Fichtre has been designing projects and manufacturing objects, paying close attention to how they will be used – uses that are often reappropriated, with pride of place given to the human body. The singularity of their approach lies halfway between architecture and handicrafts, art and design.
Pursuing this idea of occupying space differently and inventing new sites for social interaction, Fichtre dreamt up Les Espaces Verts for La Chapelle-sur-Erdre on the natural site of La Gandonnière.
Inspired by the shape of this landscape – with the nearby Erdre River – Fichtre created a monochrome structure that embraces the contours of the river bank. This complex is made up of alignments with rows of cabins and a simple, minimalist form that is reminiscent of the kind of boat houses typically found in North American landscapes along the continent’s shores and river banks.
Underneath Les Espaces Verts, rocks mimic these artificial alignments and support the cabins in a system of raised foundations allowing the entire complex to play with the ground’s natural lumps, offering new views of the Erdre Valley’s vast and verdant landscapes.
Fichtre is based in Nantes. The studio was founded in 2001.
Winner of the bid for the department of Loire-Atlantique’s sustainable tourism project “Inventons le tourisme”
Financed by the town of la Chapelle-sur-Erdre. With the participation of le Voyage a Nantes, the department of Loire-Atlantique, and Nantes Métropole.