Queen Margot’s domain
Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
MUNICIPALITY OF ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX
SEMADS
COMPANY OF PRIESTS OF SAINT-SULPICE
ACCOR GROUP
Architect: WILMOTTE & ASSOCIÉS
Chief architect of historic monuments: BENEDICTE GECELE
Executive Project Supervisor: STRUCTURES CONSEIL MAINTENANCE
Structure: C&E INGENIERIE
Cost consultant: CABINET IVANCICH
Earthworks, roads and utilities: URBACITE
Security, safety, fire: ERCI TIBERGHEIN DSSI
Landscaper: NEVEUX ROUYER
Acoustics: THEATRE PROJECTS
Control office: BATIPLUS
Land area - 9,424 sqm
2023
Refurbishment of existing buildings and construction of a new building to house a 5-star hotel.
Since the 17th century, this estate, marked by its surrounding wall, has always been a very well-preserved site. It is now home to a 5* McGallery Hotel Collection, part of the Accor group, with 83 rooms and a restaurant, Marguerite 1606.
All the existing buildings have been preserved and restored. The canopy over the courtyard of the existing building has been replaced by an enclosed glass roof that houses the restaurant. To balance the project, a new building has been planned. The neo-Gothic chapel and its associated spaces (vestibule and sacristy) have been completely restored inside and out. Existing materials and decor have been renovated or replaced where necessary. This ensemble makes it possible to organise small events and exceptional, atypical receptions.
The park is also an essential part of the project. Its historic layout and the atmosphere of a cultivated garden are respected. The landscaping project is based on two main ideas: retaining and amplifying the presence of plants, which gives the upper part of the garden a high level of landscape quality; and retaining the idea of large parterres into which a large kitchen garden and orchard are planted.
I'm very interested in helping a place evolve towards its new function. How do you revive a building that has a long history? We wanted to restore the person of Queen Margot, who was one of the residents of this place, a woman of letters. It was an obvious choice.
Jean-Michel Wilmotte
architect
For the interior architecture, warm, noble materials have been chosen, including solid wood, stone and marble. The combinations remain sober so as not to get lost in too great a diversity of materials, while at the same time highlighting strong elements. The colour scheme in the new building is based around three shades from the Aplat by Wilmotte range: Como (1st floor), Modena (2nd floor) and Taupe (3rd floor). In the old building, the colours chosen are Salt and Taupe, also from the Aplat by Wilmotte range. These soft, warm colours highlight the noble elements of the exposed roof timbers, beams and stone walls.
To highlight the figure of Queen Margot, patron of the arts and owner of the site’s former château, her calligraphy was used for quotations from poems by Joachim du Bellay and Pierre de Ronsard, printed on spaces from floor to ceiling.
