HEMAA is an architecture and urban planning firm founded by Charles Hesters and Pierre Martin-Saint-Etienne. The firm's work encompasses all scales of architecture and land-use planning, both urban and rural. The diversity of the programs we undertake (public facilities, collective and individual housing, cultural venues) allows us to maintain a cross-disciplinary and open-minded approach that enriches and renews our thinking with each project.
Our solutions are developed collaboratively, based on a commitment to sustainable architecture that respects its site. We believe that the act of building should be generous, giving back as much as it receives from its immediate and broader context. We advocate for architecture rooted in the history and geography of the place. Understanding its essence allows us to define the site layout, morphology, and layout, and to build with the materials best suited to each program and each location. Each situation allows us to re-examine the scale and impact of constructions on their environment in order to define the right size of built volumes; to fragment the mass and to qualify the voids.
The school complex in Normandy thus provides an opportunity to build using wood and local slate, echoing traditional architectural forms. The school in Sartrouville is built with load-bearing solid stone, the Evry Children's Center features a village of rammed earth and timber-framed houses nestled in a park, and the house in Garches incorporates millstone grit salvaged from the demolition of the existing structure.
This research into site integration, the use of bio-based or reclaimed materials, and local resources form the foundation of our environmental design. We eliminate all superfluous materials to return to an architecture composed of its essential elements. Through the lens of this passive design, we also ensure that each project strives for energy and carbon efficiency throughout its entire life cycle. We believe that Nature and Architecture are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, a fair balance must be found in each project, so that these places, these landscapes, find a new harmony after our passing.
