Domaine les Ormes. Rural revitalization through artisan workshops and agrotourism in Allan, Drôme Provençale, France

Authors’ Comment

Fondation de la Mémoire Artisanale : In southeastern France, in the village of Allan in Provence, near the Cistercian abbey of “Notre-Dame d’Aiguebelle” , the site of “Domaine les Ormes” (Elm Estate) becomes the setting for an intervention that proposes rural reactivation through contemporary architecture, traditional crafts, and a living cultural landscape. A former “bergerie” (sheepfold), later transformed into a home by a “nougatier” (nougat artisan), is reintegrated into the community fabric through a strategy of adaptive reuse anchored in the local identity.The project seeks a balance between memory and modernity, between vernacular language and current needs. The new intervention is positioned below the level of the existing house, without overshadowing it, but rather respecting its historic presence. The general composition follows the contours of the land, with a predominantly southern orientation for solar exposure and landscape integration. The main volume is semi-buried towards the north, allowing for a discreet implantation, natural protection from the Mistral wind, and continuity with the hilly terrain.The structure is organized around a tensioned and revealing circulation: a system of passages and stairs linking the old house to the new functions. These pathways act as transitional spaces, conceived as sensorial experiences—between light and shadow, between contemplation and activity—and lead toward the vital core of the ensemble: the craft workshops.The main functions include workshops for lavender, wine, nougat, ceramics, and gastronomy, a panoramic restaurant, a relaxation area with natural treatments, and exhibition spaces. The low-rise volumetry, the sliding “volets” (wooden shutters), and retractable glass walls allow for a fluid and permeable relationship between interior and exterior, while local materials—“pierre sèche” (dry stone), wood, and raw concrete—support a durable and contextual aesthetic. Additionally, the interior walls between the workshops are also designed as movable partitions, enabling the configuration of a convertible pavilion-like space adaptable to various community activities.The “gîte rural” (rural guesthouses) are placed more discreetly to the northwest, in a fragmented and intimate composition. They retain traditional “tuiles canal” (canal tiles) roofs and are oriented toward the productive landscape, without disrupting the visual harmony.The landscape is conceived as productive infrastructure, with “restanque” (dry stone terraces) supporting local crops: lavender, grapevines, olive trees, truffles, and aromatic plants. Circulation paths are marked by slender, upright “cyprès” (cypress trees, specific to the Mediterranean climate), which organize space and create a coherent reading of the productive garden. Vegetation becomes an architectural material in itself, cascading over façades and terraces in a continuous dialogue with the built environment. Through this intervention, architecture assumes a mediating role between man, place and memory, where material and immaterial heritage is activated through sensitive, sustainable gestures deeply anchored in the identity of the place. Through this intervention, I answer the question that guided my entire research: How can we reconnect man with nature, as he once did? How can we, as architects, support such a process?