Villa Ker Ar Bruck
MonumentHidden Treasure
Villa Ker Ar Bruck, located in Crozon (Département 29), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Crozon, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.2325, -4.4998
- Mérimée Reference
- PA29000041
In Morgat, the Ker Ar Bruck villa reveals a metallic secret: its walls are made of galvanised sheet iron, assembled without foundations, a rare example of industrial seaside architecture from the late 19th century.
History
On the beach at Morgat, on the Crozon peninsula, the Ker Ar Bruck villa stands out at first glance for its discretion - and on closer inspection reveals itself to be one of the most unusual architectural objects on the Breton coast. Far from the granite villas that are the usual staple of the Finistère coast, this holiday home conceals, beneath its appearance of an ordinary seaside villa, an entirely metal structure, designed according to prefabricated principles that were surprisingly modern for the time. What makes Ker Ar Bruck absolutely unique is its construction method: its walls rest on no traditional foundations. The base of the building rests on a double ring of U-shaped beams, and the envelope itself is made up of rectangular modular panels of zinc-coated sheet iron. This industrial approach, inherited from the rise of metallurgy in the 19th century and its applications in light architecture, places Ker Ar Bruck in the tradition of the dismountable or transportable buildings that fascinated the engineers and entrepreneurs of the Belle Époque. To visit Ker Ar Bruck is also to delve into the history of the creation of a seaside resort from scratch. Morgat owed its existence, at the dawn of the 1880s, only to the determination of two visionary businessmen: the villa is part of this founding project, the first milestone in the construction of a resort destined to become one of the jewels in the crown of Breton tourism. Its silhouette, with its main wing facing the beach, its articulated volumes and the veranda added in the 20th century, tells the story of several decades of uses and adaptations. The setting for the visit amplifies the charm of the place. Morgat Bay, enclosed by the cliffs of the Crozon peninsula and bathed by the waters of the Iroise Marine Park, forms a natural setting of rare quality. Between sea and moor, Ker Ar Bruck embodies the encounter between the industrial ambition of the 19th century and the melancholy gentleness of the landscapes of western Brittany - an alliance that no other monument in the region embodies with such originality.
Architecture
Ker Ar Bruck has an L-shaped floor plan with a service wing, organised around a main wing oriented parallel to the beach - a deliberate choice offering maximum exposure to the seafront. A return wing, on the main facade, houses the living room, the showpiece par excellence of the seaside bourgeois home. A third, functional, half-depth wing houses the kitchen areas, in a layout typical of Belle Époque holiday villas, with strict separation between noble and service areas. The absolutely remarkable technical feature of the building is its integral metal structure. The single-skin walls are made up of rectangular modular panels of sheet iron coated with a layer of zinc - a process that ensures lightness, resistance to salt corrosion and rapid assembly. The base of the complex does not rest on a traditional masonry foundation: it is laid on a double ring of U-shaped metal joists, a system that distributes the loads on the ground without the need for deep excavation. This bold solution for a residential building brings Ker Ar Bruck closer to the engineering architecture of the second half of the 19th century. The exterior of the villa has evolved over time. The veranda added in the 1950s and 1960s, an extension of an old awning whose original base has been preserved, lends the coastal façade a touch of softness and cosiness that tempers the industrial character of the basic material. Despite these successive additions, the volumetric coherence of the whole has remained intact, and the sober modenature of the metal panels continues to give Ker Ar Bruck a functional and discreet elegance, perfectly in tune with the changing light of Morgat Bay.
Related Figures
Louis Richard — cofondateur de la société Richard et Cie, initiateur de la station balnéaire de Morgat en 1884Armand Peugeot — industriel et cofondateur de Richard et Cie, futur pionnier de l'automobile française, associé à la création de Morgat
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Villa Ker Ar Bruck located?
Villa Ker Ar Bruck is located in Crozon, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Villa Ker Ar Bruck built?
Villa Ker Ar Bruck dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Villa Ker Ar Bruck open to visitors?
Villa Ker Ar Bruck is currently closed to visitors.