Back to pattern list

Search patterns

SAINT-PONS-DE-MAUCHIENS · SETTLEMENT — 18

A village around a hill.

Stone houses, circling lanes and a church above the vines.

ModelIllustratedClayLinework

Preparing the hill town…

Village modelPlanHill profilePerspective

StyleView

Drag to orbit · Scroll to zoomDrag to orbit · Pinch to zoom3 housing rings · 24 m hill

THE LANGUEDOC CIRCULADE

French hill town

01

Starting pattern

02

Hill & circling lanes

Hill rise24 m

Summit plateau radius26 m

Surrounding flat ground44 m

Housing rings3

Typical inner lane3.0 m

The enlarged summit is level. Below it, uneven terraces soften into a broad flat landscape as the housing rings break into gardens and small groups along the approach roads. Each lane follows its own uneven outline. Offset T-junctions and bent passages connect the levels; the wider perimeter street receives four winding approach roads. Steeper foot passages become stairs.

Trace the street networkOchre lanes and roads · blue-green foot passages

03

Houses & roofscape

Typical frontage6.5 m

Typical storeys2

Plots follow the street edges and are trimmed at bends and junctions. Small remnants become gardens. Partial frontage beyond the perimeter gives way to the vineyards.

181 houses · 4 circling lanesA summit belvedere, a long perimeter square and a small alley court. About 254 × 223 m including the landscape.

04

Landmark & landscape

Summit churchA Romanesque nave and square bell tower

Pines & village treesMature shade trees on the plateau and lower terraces

Tree size1.8 ×

Vineyard settingProductive land frames the compact village

05

Read the pattern

Crown the hill, then build around it. Give the summit a shared landmark and a place to look out. Hold a continuous street edge below it, open a small square, and let the roofs descend towards the fields.

Your plans and aerial views suggest an uneven oval, closely joined houses and narrow links between rings. The model interprets the broad perimeter street, tighter inner lanes and staggered connections. Street widths vary along their length. Alignments and dimensions are design choices, not measurements of Saint-Pons.

The local tourism office describes a village that developed in concentric circles around its twelfth-century castle chapel. A landscape study published by the French Ministry of Culture also draws attention to its terraced buildings and surrounding agricultural land.

Saint-Pons · local tourism office Village landscape study · 2017 Compare with Grasse settlement

Pattern 18 · French hill town

Concept dimensions. A settlement interpretation, not a surveyed reconstruction. Stepped routes are schematic; accessibility and servicing need a site-specific design. Changes last for this session.

Explore related patterns

Grasse settlementCompare concentric lanes with a stepped hillside town.
Grasse streetsExplore hill town life at the scale of the street.
Cotswold burgage townCompare a circular town with a linear market street.

View all patterns