New Hermès laboratory designed by Lina Ghotmeh

The Franco-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh designed the new Hermès laboratory in Normandy, France, the Maroquinerie, in Louviers. The 6.200 square metre building – a large 90x90-square-metre square, tribute to the House’s iconic silk carré – will welcome 260 future craftsmen and crafswomen in the École des savoir-faire, handing down the fashion house’s techniques to the younger generation.

The projects of Ghotmeh – who before studying architecture in Paris had thought of becoming an archaeologist – are emanations of the memory of the places on which they rise, from here the 510 thousand bricks made by hand in a local furnace, and celebrate the craftsmanship, also in the very composition of the building. The pose was carried out following a palette in shades of red and purple that changes with the light in the different hours of the day and seasons give a different look to the project.

The elevations feature large arches that lighten the building giving it dynamism and are inspired by the figure of the horse, animal still symbol of the fashion house, that achieved fame thanks to the production of saddles.

Maroquinerie is the first industrial building to have obtained the highest French certification in terms of sustainability. The building, in fact, thanks to its materiality consumes very little energy, thanks to the reduction of dispersions.