An exceptional natural site

A huge plain, a vast meadow surrounded by a dense dark green forest, down a mountain. Its scale, its radical contrasts and the strength of its natural elements make it very impressive.

An ecological challenge to take up

In this landscape, the Tourist Centre project becomes a challenge.

How can we approach this large-scale project, while dealing with the desire of preserving a powerful but fragile natural area ? It raises a fundamental question.

Can we built new infrastructures of this scale in a natural and almost untouched site with such rare qualities, which yet remains a unique opportunity for tourism development in the region ? This question makes us wonder and inspires some reservations : is such a project reasonable, relevant, ecologically compatible, when the consciousness of the fragility and the preciosity of natural resources, draws attention on the matter, as well as precaution and discernment?

Ecology does not necessarily imply doing nothing, congealing areas, or giving up any human activity. It is a matter of acting with extreme precaution, delicacy, responsibility, knowing where are the limits, the thresholds not to overpass, deploying a permanent care and vigilance throughout the whole project to preciously maintain its natural values, strengthen them in the long term and enable human activity without deteriorating nor damaging the site.

A discrete and tightened project, making sparing use of the territory, to minimise the impact on the site, maintain and integrate its strong pre-existent qualities

Our intention is to propose a project that does not go against a place with such a strong and unique natural character. We want to design a project that includes the program without damaging the site, that quality. Building a new link between habitat and natural environments.

Intentions

The terms are the following :

– To maintain the plain vacant, untouched and unbuilt in the core of the site.
– To use the natural topography shelters to blend into the site and make the project as invisible as can be.
– To limit the project footprint, to keep the natural ground and not to modify the topography. To generate density instead of spreading.
– To settle close to the existing roads on the edges of the site to avoid building new roads on the land.
– To create an exceptional, simple, comfortable and generous way of inhabiting : each apartment, hotel room or villa equally benefits views, nature, facilities and services offered by the site and the tourist centre.