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La Cachette

Extension and renovation of a hotel originally designed by the famous architect Charlotte Perriand in the ski resort Arc 1600.

The Hotel La Cachette is a landmark in the construction of Arc 1600 by the famous architect Charlotte Perriand in the 1970s. Awarded the “Architecture Contemporaine Remarquable” label, the challenge is to transform and modernize this building and make it more user-friendly by building on the existing architecture, while preserving Charlotte Perriand’s heritage.
 
Friendly Hotel, the owner and operator, wants to create a hotel that lives with the seasons and is turned towards nature. Charlotte Perriand was keen to open up the building to the landscape, particularly through framed views. For this project, we deliberately chose to bring the landscape inside, to insinuate paths, to recompose paths, to create a dialogue between inside and outside like a mirror effect.

Client : Friendly Hôtel
Location : Arc 1600, France
Surface : 6 000 m²
Status : Delivery
Date : 2022
Key points
  • Rehabilitation for identical use.
  • Eco-responsible approach.
  • Architecture and interior design.
  • Mountain-oriented signage.
Download the project sheet

An interior landscape to explore

We continue Charlotte Perriand’s work by offering views and framings on the landscape, transforming La Cachette into an interior landscape to be surveyed, contemplated and inhabited. The path, represented by the lines, becomes the hotel’s common thread. Guests and users extend and prepare their outdoor experiences inside La Cachette.

La Cachette is a place of departure, a place of refuge, but also a place to be explored. The path materializes in many ways. A unique motif of the true topographical curve of the Massif de la Vanoise, the Les Arcs sector and the Bourg-Saint-Maurice valley (based on the IGN map of the area), can be found on the floor of all common areas.

« Man and the universe are intimately linked, which is why I can never separate the parts from the whole when it comes to my discipline, the architecture of the environment, the equipment of architecture. »

Charlotte Perriand

Thinking about spaces also means thinking about their use and accessibility.

The former gallery between the hotel and the restaurant has been transformed and enlarged.

Once a place of passage, the extension makes this space the heart of the project: a central living space open to the outside, housing the bar area and shared workspace. Whether you’re coming from the hotel, from outside or from the restaurant, you’ll be passing through this new universe, that of La Cachette.

The lounge and the coworking space: the major novelties of this renovation

Once a place of passage, thanks to the extension, this space has become the heart of the project: a central living space open to the outside.

The lounge

The main element is the imposing central fireplace around which we will meet.
A string of lights on the ceiling recalls the traditional torchlight descent, the route and the crossing of the slopes.
The shades of green, grey and ochre used are directly inspired by the surrounding landscape.
The selection of furniture and coffee tables was made with Selency, a specialist in antique and vintage objects.

The coworking space

In order to offer a hotel service better adapted to the new ways of working and travelling, a coworking space has been designed: warm, open to the outside and functional.
The ropes suspended above the work spaces

The restaurant and the bar

The restaurant

The restaurant has been transformed. The restaurant has been brought up to date while maintaining the existing volumetry.

A “showcooking” area has been created where the mineral is in full effect.

There are several rooms with their own atmosphere and furniture. These spaces can be privatised for groups or seminars.

Some of the furniture has been found by Selency.
The company Indigo Diffusion, based in Haute Savoie, was responsible for reupholstering the existing benches that were retained.

Once again, we find the rope that delimits the spaces. It acts as a screen to extend the restaurant entrance.

The bar

The very pure glasswork, with its random rhythm, is made up of a set of squares in primary colours inspired by Perriand and acting as dividers.

The light fixture above the bar again recalls the path, the movement, the turn.

The use of a textured burnt effect earthenware refers to the rings of wood.

To lighten the counter, the use of mirrored plinths gives the bar a levitating effect.

Rooms : each floor has its own season and layer of relief

A different landscape on each floor... A variety of colours for the paintings and curtains, compressed hay inlaid with dried flowers.

Eco-responsible rehabilitation

Site management, choice of companies, technical choices and re-use, an eco-responsible and 100% local project, managed entirely by Patriarche.

Local artists have also been invited to decorate the walls. 4 photographers exhibit their vision of the mountains through black and white photographs: Dominique Daher (5th floor), Manu Reyboz (6th floor), Karim-Olivier Bourakkadi (7th floor) and Alexandre Gendron (8th floor).

The murals, which vary in color from floor to floor, were also painted by local artist Julienne Rat-Patron.

The reception hall: a warm and comfortable multi-use living space

As soon as you enter, you are projected into the landscape with a view of the mountains.

Much more than a reception area, this space has been designed to become a multi-purpose living space: a place to exchange, a place to share, a place to sell, a place to find your bearings, a place to gather...

A boutique has been opened with the hotel’s iconic decorative objects for sale.

The new graphic identity of the hotel La Cachette

The Patriarche team also created the new graphic universe of the La Cachette hotel: the logos and its chromatic range.

The logo is inspired by the specific sloping facades of Arc 1600, which allowed guests to enjoy the sun or protect themselves from the snow depending on their orientation.

The staircase logo also recalls the structure of the building with its multi-levels and cascading terraces.

Signage: a link to the mountain, an external and internal path.

La Cachette Hotel tells a story. The story of an emblematic place inspired by Charlotte Perriand. During the visit, the visitor can discover the photographs of the hotel, as an architectural memory.

The mountain as an external landscape that welcomes us inside. The visitor is invited to walk along the path traced by a graphic and narrative line. This line evokes topographic maps, marked paths and summits. It can be curved, straight or broken.

Wood, a durable material that evokes the mountains, was used for all the signage. The panels and signs thus created accompany and guide the visitor throughout his or her wanderings.

Équipe

Patriarche (Architecture, Architecture d’intérieur, Ingénierie TCE, QEB, Economie, BIM, Urbanisme, Paysage, Design narratif, Signalétique, Graphisme)
Myah | Patriarche (Contractant général d’aménagement intérieur)

Crédits :

Photos : ©Y Studio

Programme

Hotel
Rehabilitation