Braives Natural Infrastructure

Programme

Room for wickerworking activities, bicycle shelter, protected outdoor area.

You arrive in Braives through a gentle landscape. Willows punctuate a green, undulating landscape. For the past fifteen years, the municipality of Braives has been promoting its rural and natural heritage. The wetland and willows have enabled the region to develop economically and for tourism thanks to basketry. On this site the architects were asked to design a new building for the non-profit association Maison de la Mehaigne et de l’Environnement rural asbl, on a tight budget. The idea is to design a multi-purpose space, primarily for activities for children, ‘without the architecture conditioning its use’, as Michel Prégardien points out. To bring this project to fruition, the architects used local resources, the dynamism of the municipality and their ingenuity. It is delicately positioned at the low point of the site, beside the road, framed by a stone farmhouse typical of the region and a majestic willow. In order not to alter the landscape and to keep the site reversible, the foundations of the wooden structure are metal screw piles that leave no trace at the end of the building’s life. The simplicity of the design of the wooden structure contributes to both ease of maintenance for the space and its adaptability to multiple uses. In terms of materials used, the wooden floors and stone retaining walls are locally recovered. The woven wicker cladding on the facade was designed in collaboration with the Maison de la Mehaigne. The wicker comes from local willows and is woven during workshop sessions conducted on site. "Architecture is subordinate to use, and the architect is at the service of the project," concludes Michel Prégardien.

Audrey Contesse