Initiative #3 : The ecohamlet Ecopernic (Pau, France)

On Monday 7 March, my step ended in Pau. I had contacted Françoise and Vincent in advance, who offered me to sleep in their superb ecological house, which would allow us to discuss the eco-neighbourhood project they have launched next door.

Ecopernic, an ecological hamlet

Initially, Françoise and Vincent lived in a normal house. But once their children had left home, they thought about the idea of building a smaller, but no less cosy, and above all ecological house.

Their desire is even more ambitious. They bought a piece of land to build an eco-hamlet! It took a long time to work with architects and surveyors to get out of the traditional schemes and create this ecological allotment with shared gardens.

The land is divided into different plots, most of them for building houses. One of the plots, close to the roadside, is intended for a Social and Solidarity Economy project. Few cars will circulate in the allotment, and it will be arranged around shared gardens.

The houses of this hamlet will have to be ecological, and if possible made of straw, clay and wood. A set of specifications sets out the constraints for the construction of these houses, particularly in terms of materials used. Each house can be self-built if desired, but harmonisation at the neighbourhood level will be required. Architects supervise and manage the project to ensure that the specifications are respected.

Today, 8 of the 17 lots have already been sold or reserved. One house has just been delivered while a second is under construction. The hamlet is taking shape!

Francoise and Vincent's house, a showcase for the eco hamlet

The couple's house is made of wood frames, with an soil-straw cob filling for insulation. For the outside, a wood fibre cladding is applied on the straw and then covered with a coating of 1/3 lime and 2/3 sand. The sand comes mainly from abandoned quarries. It was sifted by hand to integrate the plaster.

Inside, the walls are covered with an soil-based plaster, in particular with clay from the foundations (the more local the better !). This is prepared and mixed with sand and coloured soils to create different shades of colour.

The ceilings are made of poplar wood from the poplar grove planted 25 years ago at the bottom of the field by Vincent himself. The floor is mainly made of terracotta tiles.

In the kitchen, the furniture was made by a cabinetmaker from a walnut tree that grew on the land.

The installation of the partitions was the most time-consuming part of the construction of the house, and was very labour-intensive. The solution was therefore to choose participatory construction, where people can come and give a hand, either because they know how to do it well or because they want to learn! It was a great way to meet people...

It was a nice meeting for me, big thanks for the welcome :)

To find out more about Ecopernic: https://ecopernic.fr/