Iona

Construction of 5 accommodations for disabled persons

The IONA institute is a social institution accommodating mentally disabled persons in semi-autonomy. Fed by Rudolf Steiner's pedagogy and originally created around a biodynamic farm, the IONA institute has required, over its 50 years' existence, the construction of several buildings that now form a village. 

TWYCE ARCHITECTS has completed this structure with a building destined to house 5 accommodations.

Through its implantation on the edges of a village, the building first addresses the landscape, which is made up of vast extents of fields.

Designed like a heavy mass extracted from the earth, the brown bricks of the façade reflect the colour and structure of the soil. An awning accentuates this massive effect in suspension, inducing a tension between the lifted inert block and lightness of the façade stretching under it.

The five independent units deploy side-by-side under a large green roof. The latter is accessible from the village centre and serves as a meeting place during the many festivities that rhythm the life of the community.

Each unit boasts all the amenities of a housing accessible to persons with reduced mobility. Organised in a straight cut, the spaces open to the east on the village, and offer magnificent views on the fields to the west from the living area.

The lines of force of a landscape, the "genius loci" of a site and built environment of cities are the raw materials of architecture.

TWYCE ARCHITECTS is committed to profile its buildings with the affirmed plastic intent of sparking the emotion of materials, colours and volumes in tension.

The buildings of TWYCE ARCHITECTS liberate places, echoing their most striking characteristics. From this dialogue stems an anchored architecture that, along with the programmatic necessity of the commission, also becomes a striking cultural gesture in the natural or built landscape.

By focusing its attention on nature, seasons, the run of the sun, wind, light, surrounding sounds and to the intense necessity for silence, TWYCE ARCHITECTS puts man back at the heart of its preoccupations, profoundly tying him back to his environment.