Designed by the Paris-based Atelier LAVIT, Cabanes des Grands Cépages is an eco-hotel made up of a series of prefabricated, rectangular and round cabins that float on a lake in southeastern France. Situated on a fishing reserve near the city of Avignon, the hotel is made of up 10 suites.



The floating suites are scattered throughout the site.

Floating on the water like rafts, each cabin is clad with vertical wooden screens to ensure the guests' sense of privacy and protect them from the sun and wind-mimicking the surrounding water reeds and camouflaging the structures into the existing landscape.



A wooden gangplank leads from shore to suite.

In order to simplify the construction process in this remote site, the project was largely prefabricated in a workshop in the Pyrenees. The components were numbered, dismantled, and rebuilt on-site over the course of three months. Prefabrication reduced the production and labor costs, while impacting the local landscape as little as possible.



The architecture evokes a rustic construction in the midst of the lake's reeds.



A view of the surrounding wraparound deck and wooden privacy screens



The privacy screens translate the elegant vertical movement of the reeds into a repetitive geometric pattern.



During the day, the experience inside the suite is a play of light and shadow with the sun filtering through the screening.



The suites offer private outdoor space for lounging.



A view from the jacuzzi of the "spa" suites



The minimalist interiors of the suites



Night views



After sunset the effect is reversed, and a radiating internal glow emerges from between the wooden slats.



An overview of the site



Plans for one of the suites