The Biscuit House sited on steep slope and facing an open landscape in Lyon France, created by local architects Pierre Minassian. The house structure is made both in concrete and steel. All the materials are natural and untreated for them to keep their original aspect. Concrete is used for the envelope and the floors; steel is used for the pillars and for the window frames ; and untreated exotic wood is used for the external curtain. All the rooms are exposed to daylight. A large opening in the floor of the first storey enables daylight to reach the groundfloor.
The wood curtain is the specificity of the house. It is composed of shapes that have been named ‘biscuits’ by the first French magazine who published the house. In the living-room huge French windows open on the garden so that you have the feeling that the garden is part of the house; there is a sensation of continuity between inside and outside. he bedrooms are upstairs and the ‘day’ rooms are downstairs. The groundfloor is lined with windows going from floor to ceiling in order to enjoy the landscape all day long. Within the house there is also a sensation of uninterrupted continuity as the heaviest and most cumbersome elements (the fireplace and the stairway) are suspended over the floor. The fireplace, both cumbersome and light, acts as a separation between the living-room and the music-room. It is made in steel and is partially filled with refractory concrete providing thermal inertia and heating comfort. – Pierre Minassian Architect
