The Architecture

 

The renovation and extension to the Contemporary Ceramic started in 2009.
La Communauté de communes Terres du Haut Berry (the grouping of local councils in the highlands of the Upper Berry region) was the main client, and the company SEM Territoria was responsible for managing the client.

The architect Achim Von Meier from Die Werft’agency designed a project which perfectly fits its location. The existing building, the former village school for girls, now houses a professional workshop and a learning space on the ground floor. On the first floor the management team for the centre have their offices, as does the Ceramic Association of La Borne. The window ledges have been lowered to let in more light. Adjoining this building the architect wanted to create a huge glass-clad gallery measuring 665m2.

Its subtle lines emphasise the wooden structure made of Douglas fir and the ubiquitous metallic features. The presentation stands echo this purity of line and mirror the clean lines. This huge space is broken down into shelves which descend on a slope. The whole building reflects the sloping floors of hill-climbing pottery kilns, which are traditional in La Borne. You can look across the view, and let your eyes fall onto the kilns outdoors under the canopy and on into the forest beyond. Thus visitors can gaze upon the ceramic pieces in the exhibition then at the elements that produced them- wood and earth.

This construction is amongst the first in the Centre Region to be designated with ‘low energy consumption’.