BAL architects' three-volume seaside house in Lacanau Océan, France

Rather than one big house on a small plot, Bordeaux studio BAL architects built three closely set, similarly shaped structures in Lacanau Océan, about 200m from the Atlantic. Angled against one another on a sloping 500 sq m site, they shelter the garden from the weather, give privacy and frame slices of ocean, while quietly disguising the fact that there are six bedrooms across 300 sq m. The architects point to the region's old tobacco-drying sheds as the precedent for the barn-like look.

The fun is underground. Tunnels link a games room and home cinema to a pair of bunkrooms in the next building, and on to a hammam, surf workshop and cellar in the third. Above, a terracotta-paved terrace becomes an open-air living room once the big sliding glass doors are pulled back. The studio had 30,000 tiles made locally, coloured to match the sandy soil and laid in herringbone inside and out; angle-cut Douglas fir cladding echoes the pattern.

There's thought behind the comfort too: lime-hemp and plant-based wool insulation, low-carbon concrete and rainwater collection. It's a private family home, so this one is for looking at rather than visiting, but a good read for anyone who likes houses full of passageways and surprises.

Our summary of a story from Wallpaper*, published 6 November 2026. Read the original

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