Maison de l'Environnement et de la Biodiversité
A community hub reclaiming a fringe of land, between the municipal estate and the farmland.
The building stands on the edge of a municipal site whose public access is determined by the opening hours of the activities it accommodates, including the communal restaurant and the archery ground. It replaces a former karting track, framed by grassy embankments and already reclaimed by a beekeepers’ association that keeps its hives and honey-making shelters on the site.
The programme combines a honey house and a multipurpose hall, with a total area of 225 m². Conceived as a large piece of furniture — or a large hive — the building rests on screw piles to minimise disturbance to the ground it occupies.
While it backs onto the cultivated fields, the building opens towards the town: its geometry aligns with the street system and frames both the nearby cluster of hives and, in the distance, the church tower.
It is built like a construction kit: a timber frame filled with insulating straw bales, with large interior walls softened by earth plaster. The walls and roof structure were prefabricated off-site. The honey house façades are punctuated by a limited number of openings, while the west façade opens generously. Its timber ‘shelves’ will gradually accommodate bird and insect nests, turning the façade into an educational tool.
Light timber, straw and earth, with only a few concrete elements signalling the proximity of the town, and a path of hazelnut shells laid over the old asphalt track: the project creates a gentle transition between farmland and town centre.
The project grew out of close dialogue between architect and client. Launched by the City of Mitry-Mory through a simplified procurement procedure, the brief continued to evolve in terms of its uses, position on the site, materials and construction techniques.
The architects refined the detailing of the earth plaster on straw walls and the partially translucent roof, while abandoning overly sophisticated systems such as geothermal energy or a roof covered with solar panels. The client accepted innovations without formal technical approvals, placing confidence in laboratory tests carried out by the French straw building network (Réseau Français de la Construction Paille), and sought additional funding for a total budget of €900,000 excluding VAT.
