R e d    S h a c k

Ampefy . Madagascar . 2017

Client Private

Status Completed

This 60m2 pavilion was built using the local construction technique that is specifically found in the Hauts Plateaux region of central Madagascar : coated brick walls, large thatched roof and natural hard soil. The major challenge was to respect the use of local resources, from the boots to the hat of the house :

– The soil, lay on a granite base stones, is composed of clay mixed with hydraulic lime, tamped, pigmented and then smoothed.

– The bricks of the curved walls were shaped by hands and assembled together using clay mortar.

– The coating is an amalgam of sand and laterite. A second coat (a lightly tinted lime wash) is applied as a final plastering and is drawing a geometric wall pattern.

– The framework was shaped with local wood supplied by the client and rests on two interior load-bearing walls, dividing spaces between water, day and night rooms. The thatch was dried in-situ and laid by the village craftsmen.

The pavilion, beyond its thermal comfort, meets the constraints that a site such as this one may encounter: materials, climate, construction times. Thus, the constraints, when they are admitted, become a constructive force and embrace the construction, which makes this project a delightful eco construction manifesto.