Studio ACTE

After working for Atelier Kempe Thill and ZUS, Estelle Barriol established Studio ACTE in Rotterdam in 2020. The studio focuses on exploring resilient architectures inspired by vernacular systems, emphasizing low-tech and geo-sourced designs based on reuse. Graduated in architecture from ENSA Saint Etienne (FR), Estelle regularly teaches design studios and workshops on bio and geo-based materials. The studio believes in raising awareness among audiences and stakeholders in the construction field, promoting cultural cross-over, and empowering women in the industry.

Studio ACTE focuses on a transdisciplinary approach through exploratory processes to propose positive ways of building and living in response to the ecological emergency. The work includes small and large-scale architectures, material research, self-building, and tends to look for possible applied solutions to answer the depletion of resources and the fragility of ecosystems. Through a Design and Build method driven by experimentation, Studio ACTE rethinks the act of building by involving a hands-on approach and exploring the process of reuse at a 1:1 scale.

Our selection for the Prix de Rome NL with the project “Cultivating the Metropolis”, the construction of a Green House made of 100% reused material from a deconstruction, and the design for a rammed earth large office building in South France, are great examples of our ongoing research and dedication to reflecting on available, locally sourced, and bio-based materials. Additionally, the selection for the ongoing Prix d’Architecture Charles Abella with the project Spolia settles a manifesto on the potential of the Paris urban mines, recalling new narratives around deconstruction, to draw optimistic and resilient architectures.

Through hands-on and on-site practices, studio ACTE seeks regenerative architectures that promote reuse, material, people, and culture, inviting craftsmanship and aesthetics as an equation towards sustainability.