top of page

Zébra3 - Les Guisseurs, Peri-urban Refuge # 3 - 2012

Design and production - Parc des Rives d'Arcin, Bègles

Magical and totemic animals, three owls grouped back to back, observe us and watch over the river. The design is inspired by brachyotes, little marsh owls that nest on the ground. Visible from afar, this resolutely figurative proposition is a source of story. We think of the soft hoot we hear during the bivouacs ...

We are on the site of an old traditional plaice, above the reeds, a twelve-meter long pontoon giving access to a terrace which opens onto the Garonne.

As Candice Pétrillo from Zébra3 says: “The idea of birds came to me very quickly. After the last works to extend the shopping area, I saw migrating birds circling in the sky, looking for the old dried up wetland. The animalistic wink and the curve of the object are a tribute to the sculptors François Pompon and François-Xavier Lalanne. "

The concept of refuge here takes on all its meaning: near and far from the city, anchored in the world of the river with the wind that accompanies the tides, immersed in a corner of nature representing a living space.

The beds in circles, as in a nest, are located in the heads of the owls and allow you to observe the tidal bore, the stars, the moon, the reflections of the river plunged into darkness ... Children and people with reduced mobility can also sleeping on the ground floor. Up or down, in this other hut in the city, the lookouts watch over sleep and dreams.

Reservations for one night (free) at lesrefuges.bordeaux-metropole.fr

Access: Bus line 36 Arches de l'Estey stop, lines 11 and 34 Rives d'Arcins stop

Accessibility to the refuge: 200 m from the Rives d'Arcins shopping center car park

Sleeps: 6 people (3 double beds)

"After the extension works of the nearby commercial area, I saw migratory birds circling in the sky, looking for the once existing wetland. They had no more place to stay…"

Sitting on the riverside, the owls remind us the soft hooking we can hear during bivouacs, or Hedwig, Harry Potter's owl…

Fully immersed in nature, from the owls you can access directly over a 12m long dock to the Garonne, while the shopping center is just behind the reeds. Sitting back to back, the three birds form a shelter in which 6 persons can sleep on different levels while observing the quite unusual surroundings.

Information and reservation (free) on lesrefuges.bordeaux-metropole.fr

The peri-urban refuges project is a Bruit du frigo initiative, carried out in collaboration with Zébra3. It is supported and financed by Bordeaux Métropole, with the participation of the host municipalities.

bottom of page