The former Institut de Zoologie at the Université de Bordeaux was converted into a hotel in 2020.
The passage of migrating animals inspired us to design this long desk, which takes its place in the magnificent entrance hall.
It has been designed as a succession of simple 4-legged objects, to which the addition of a fifth suggests an animal’s lopsided gait.
The group of 5-legged pieces is linked together by a large, solid elm surface.
The articulation of the façades provides an indication of the cabinets used by the entomologists of the 19th century. Each one of them is presented as a bas-relief, a reinterpretation of Buffon’s scientific classification, decorated with coral and fossil patterns, and fur and feather textures.
![](https://rachelbenoitconvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/draye-croquislong.jpg)
Designed as a row of simple 4-leggest parallelepipeds, with the addition of other sloped supports, the reception desk is subtly suggestive of an animal’s gait.
![](https://rachelbenoitconvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/reception-lazoologie1-1333x1000.jpg)
Installing the long reception desk in the hotel’s foyer.
Artisan expertise unites with fine engraving technology to create subtle bas-reliefs with coral or plant patterns, with connotations of feathers, fur, and fossils.
![](https://rachelbenoitconvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/draye-gravures1-1-1304x1000.jpg)
![](https://rachelbenoitconvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/draye-plateau-orme-1-1125x1500.jpg)
The exquisite plateau made from sinewy, veiny antique elm, no longer growing in the area, gives the furniture a distinctive character.
The volumes are linked together by exceptionally thin butterfly joints.
![](https://rachelbenoitconvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/draye-plateau-assemblage-1.jpg)
In the immense entrance to the university of Bordeaux’s old institute of zoology, Draye now welcomes the hotel’s guests beneath a black glass ceiling, against the magnificent backdrop of the building’s limestone walls dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.
![](https://rachelbenoitconvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/reception-lazoologie-p-e-saillard2-ld-1333x1000.jpg)
HÔTEL LA ZOOLOGIE
151, COURS DE LA MARNE
33800 BORDEAUX (F)