Our urban inspiration of the day is a cobbled public square on the shore of lake Annecy (France). A landscape architect from Annecy has chosen to renovate this beautiful place with reclaimed cobbles.
The selection of reclaimed cobbles
The reclaimed setts used for this project are our magnificent 19th century granite setts from Paris. We delivered 200 m² of them in 2 aspects: whole and with the top sawn. The choice of cobbles with sawn tops was made for the comfort of pedestrians and people with reduced mobility. Indeed, we are in a public space with a strong passage and French standards to respect. Whole cobbles are used for gutters to collect rainwater from the square.
These cobblestones are very colourful: beige, pink and grey, and harmonize perfectly with the ochre facade of the music school.
How were the Paris cobbles laid?
The installers laid our reclaimed granit setts in line, on mortar with tight joints. The architect wanted a perfect regularity in the width of the joints. Therefore, the layers sorted each cobble according to its width to keep the same line width…
The architect also used the contrasts in the appearance of the cobbles, both whole and sawn top, to create a demarcation.
This is why we find sawn and smooth cobbles for the square, which give back a very beautiful light and whole and patinated cobbles for the gutters.
A beautiful achievement, in harmony with the whole project.
If you have a personal or professional project and would like to know more about reclaimed cobbles, please contact us.
