The firm of Lille Coldefy has been commissioned to build the Sormonne leather good factory of the luxury brand Hermès in an undulating landscape between the municipalities of Tournes and Cliron, in France’s Ardennes region. The 5,700-square-meter manufacturing facility uses timber for the structure and facades, and photovoltaic panels make it produce more energy than it consumes. Carbonized wood frames the large glass facades.

The traditional industrial roof – in sawtooth formation to maximize incoming light – is reinvented as a gable roof clad in steel, with the north side protected from the south sun by an overhang. The size and proportions of these workshops can be easily adjusted to reorganize the partitions within a structural grid.

The design complies with the E4C2 environmental standards, a label also earned by the Hermès Workshops in Louviers by Lina Ghotmeh.