A Whimsical Reuse explores refined architectural transformations where history is reinterpreted through poetic interventions and contemporary craft. Forgotten spaces gain new life, revealing a dialogue between memory, material, and contemporary ways of living.
Set within the rural landscape of Aveyron, this former farmhouse is reimagined by AJO as a playful landscape for living, transforming a once-fragmented agricultural complex into a fluid retreat for gathering, resting and shared life. Rather than erasing the building’s layered history, the project works through it—reconnecting its volumes with bold openings, revealing original stone walls and restoring the verticality of the dovecote and bell structure. The former barn becomes a semi-interior landscape at the heart of the house, while curved forms, stepped seating and bespoke furniture introduce a sense of movement and informality. Here, reuse becomes an architecture of possibility: a rural building carefully preserved, yet liberated to accommodate the many ways its inhabitants might live, gather and play.
Located in the small commune of Pont-de-Salars, on the Lévézou plateau in southern France, a predominantly rural and agricultural landscape of rolling countryside, farms, villages and lakes, the project rehabilitates a long-vacant former farmhouse once used to accommodate agricultural workers. Atelier AJO transforms the building into a welcoming weekend retreat, guided by a careful and imaginative approach to the reuse of its existing architectural fabric.
The rehabilitation works with its inherited volumes, openings, materials, and traces of former use, adapting them to accommodate family gatherings and changing patterns of occupation.
The intervention establishes continuity between the complex’s three principal volumes—the open barn, central building, and dovecote—which had previously been divided into a succession of small, disconnected rooms.
Two distinctive openings are introduced into the load-bearing walls, creating a continuous spatial sequence from the tower to the planted barn and allowing movement, views, and light to extend through the building.
As the farmhouse previously lacked a dedicated outdoor living area, the former barn becomes the main outlook from the living spaces.
Reimagined as a planted, semi-interior landscape, it establishes a new relationship with the farm courtyard.
Its curved forms echo the geometry of the new openings and frame the existing monumental stone fireplace, which has been carefully preserved, restored, and brought back into use as a focal point for gathering.
The layout of the rooms follows the logic of the original façade.
The architects use the existing openings to determine the new spatial arrangement, making full use of the specific qualities of each one.
On the upper floor, intermediate ceilings are removed to recover the generosity of the original volumes and maximize the natural light entering through the existing dormer windows.
In the dovecote, this operation restores the tower’s vertical character and reveals the mechanisms of the historic bell structure above, once used to punctuate everyday life on the farm and now carefully restored.
The interiors are conceived to accommodate changing patterns of occupation.
The upper-level living room can be transformed into a dormitory during larger gatherings, with mattresses stored within stepped seating arranged around the central hearth. The same space can become an intimate performance venue, using the tiered seating and a curtain positioned at the rear, or operate as a screening room and accommodate other temporary uses.
Bespoke integrated furniture supports this flexibility while responding directly to the existing architecture.
Masonry benches emphasize changes in floor level, while a continuous run of cabinetry discreetly conceals entrances to private rooms.
Stepped seating provides access to the half-level of the dovecote while combining circulation, storage, and seating, and a library wall draws attention to the blind wall behind the circular opening.
Concrete, ash wood, stainless steel, and sheep’s wool are combined with bold accents of colour, creating a contrast between raw materials, natural tones, and the softness of the project’s curved geometries.
The spatial reorganization is accompanied by a comprehensive thermal renovation.
New internal insulation works together with the considerable thickness of the existing masonry to improve thermal inertia and comfort. At the same time, the intervention allows the original stone façades, previously concealed beneath a non-breathable cement render, to be revealed again.
Through these carefully calibrated transformations, Atelier AJO adapts the farmhouse to contemporary occupation while retaining the qualities embedded in its existing structure. New connections, flexible spaces, restored architectural elements, and integrated furniture allow the building to evolve from an agricultural complex into a place centred on gathering, without severing its relationship to its former life.
Facts & Credits
Project title Farmhouse renovation
Typology Architecture, Residential
Location Pont-de-Salars, France
Site area 170 sqm
Status Completed, 2024
Architecture Atelier AJO
Photography Sandrine Iratçabal
This project was submitted to Archisearch through the “Submit a Story” feature, where architects, designers, and creatives are invited to share their work for publication.