The château de Goudourville is a French Middle Age castle between Toulouse and Bordeaux. Its construction begun in the XIth century, and the biggest alterations occurred during the Renaissance, during which the castle’s three towers and defences were dismantled, leaving only the machicolation. In the XVIIIth century, the castle was refurbished to the taste of the time with the creation of large French windows and a spacious esplanade built over the old ramparts. In 2020, the château won the French Heritage Society Award, receiving praise for the restoration work undertaken in the last 20 years by the current owners.
Location of the rooms of interest.
Today, the castle is available for rental for weddings and various gatherings. It sleeps up to 28 people however during parties, the venue accommodates up to 100 people. As such, the castle, as most heritage does, is always adapting.
Having been in contact with the individuals managing and maintaining this heritage, I was requested to survey a few rooms in the castle and make a design proposal for the retrofitting of new bedrooms.
Photographic survey of the internal elevations of the Salle des Mâchicoulis
Photographic survey of the internal elevations of the Chambre Peau d'âne
The castle custodian wishes to turn the two existing rooms into 2 or 3 new bedrooms and bathroom(s). The brief was left intentionally open; it lied in my hands to determine what was a sensible use of the space.
As such, this project develops through conversations with the custodian thanks to which we design a satisfactory compromise. Due to the historic nature of the setting, minimal internal intervention was preferable, and no changes to the external facade were possible. Furthermore, keeping the original structure visible would retain the rich, tactile character of the space, and was therefore prioritised.
Materials and textures of the two rooms : Timber, stone, wattle and daub, brick.
Survey work was conducted onsite in a few hours. This revealed challenging due to the unpredictable nature of this historic space, whose components were all unique in their dimensions, orientation and materials.
The main design challenges consist of
> ensuring circulation to existing doors,
> providing sufficient daylight to the new rooms,
> tapping into existing building services infrastructure (power, water and sewage).
Work in Progress
Stay tuned, more coming soon!