Le Suquet Laguiole - FRANCE
VOYAGE ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE
Le Suquet stands out above the landscape. The building seems perched between land and sky, defying the elements. This habitat, originally conceived by Ginette and Michel Bras and today occupied by Véronique and Sébastien, was designed and contructed in a spirit of total harmony with nature.
It was designed in 1992, in conjunction with the architects Eric Raffy and Philippe Villeroux, and recently revamped by Thierry Chalaux. A space infused with light, where only the distant horizon interrupts one's views, where the granite and slate are reminiscent of the local 'burons', it reveals its nature discreetly, just like the countryside in which it is set. Thus, the 'draille' - a former cattle drove - which bisects the buildings leads the eye towards the village of Laguiole in the distance, as if seen through a crack. Everything about this building was conceived around the central concept of the discovery and revelation of Aubrac. The architecture, austere like the countryside, reflects its codes and materials - the light, the vegetal and the mineral - interpreting them in a pure, contemporary style.
Conceived to bridge several generations, Sébastien and Véronique Bras have gradually made small changes, with the determination of this family of perpetual builders. They have dug, renovated, adapted, enlarged, enhanced. Here, by removing the window frame structures in order to offer unobstructed views of the countryside, there by making the reception area of the hotel more welcoming or simply allowing more light in by redesigning the interior of the building.
