Les Haras de Strasbourg is a hotel and restaurant project unlike any other. Composed of a the four-star hotel and Michelin 3-starred chef Marc Haeberlin's first brasserie, Les Haras presents an original solution to the question many provincial cities are facing: how to redevelop and harness the potential of their architectural heritage. Managed by the Institute for Research into Cancer of the Digestive System (IRCAD), presided over by Professor Jacques Marescaux, the project allies architectural creativity and technological innovation, two particular areas of French expertise, with philanthropy, an unprecedented mix for a historic redevelopment project in France.

As conceived by Agence Jouin Manku, the interior design for the hotel and brasserie is characterized by its authenticity and modernity, a particular idea of luxury and comfort inspired by the equestrian world, restrained and subtle.

In response to the monumentality of the site, Jouin Manku's design plays with a sense of scale and light. The goal was to allow visitors to appreciate the exceptional historic dimension of the site without feeling overwhelmed. 

Upstairs, to add warmth to the immense space and to screen service areas, Jouin Manku have designed a micro-architecture covered in saddle leather: a 30 sq m yurt, almost five meters in height, creates a cozy dining space without being a private dining room.

The yurt, open at the top to reveal views of the timber structure, has a wonderful convex shape, its curves and layering referencing various pieces of a saddle. On its outside, the soft brown leather covering the yurt gives it warmth. Inside, the structure of wooden bars that hold it together are covered with a textile that looks a little like a saddle-blanket with its lozenge-shaped quilting. Full of light, it draws the eye, its generous proportions allowing all sorts of configurations for the tables inside.