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Allauch, (Bouche-Du-Rhône), France

Located at the foot of the old town of Allauch, this project of Central Kitchen fits exactly with the new needs of the city. 

What was constraining regarding the topography, the program, or the access area, just leads the architects to choose a new point of view: a compact volume overlapping the different parts of the program. 

More than optimizing the thermal and environmental performance of this project, that compacity offers efficient spaces with rational dimensions.

This also permits bringing a wooded public space of fruit trees on the east side of the site, and a pebble ground in the shadow of some umbrella pines. 

Those uses create a whole new public square dedicated to the community agents around Aubagnens. 

Then, the project takes form between monumental walls made of local stone. The nobility brought by the simplicity of the material offers the building not only its own identity and its strength but also links the project to the site and its landscape. 

These walls direct both accesses and views: on the north side, the delivery area, and on the south side, a long horizontal window wide-opening the working spaces to the horizon. 

On that base lays a specific and sculptural volume composed of two inverted slopes made of tiles. Right at the center, a long patio lightens the kitchen. 

Inspired by the Provencal origins of the surrounding buildings, the whitewashed gable walls grant a singular aspect to the project.