candidate report
10 Republiquethe Cévennes, France 🇫🇷

• Driving: ~1h30 Nimes/Avignon, ~2h Montpellier/Marseille, 4h Barcelona
• Local connections: typically 2h to Nimes with 35mins regular train from Nimes centre, then 1h bus from Alès (12/4/5/6pm); from 2030 40mins train for a slight reduction
• Rail
• Paris just 3h to Nimes but with changes can become 7h total to the door; last departure currently midday, in future could be 2:45pm; if overnighting in Nimes last departure is 7:30pm
• Barcelona just 4h to Nimes, but only 9:30am with connection for 5pm arrival (6h+; reducing 2030, again 2034 and again when the high speed line is fully complete); if overnighting in France last is 4:30pm
• the interesting overnight stop is Nimes; once the railway reopens there should be a later train possibly only to the local small town in which case pickup would be offered from there (20mins)
• Air
• Nimes: 1h15 drive, 30mins bus; limited Ryanair, year round to Stansted, Brussels, plus seasonal to Luton, Dublin, Porto and Morocco
• Marseille: 1h15 train and 10min bus; major lowcost hub) covering Poland, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, …
• Montpellier: 2h drive, +2h bus and train; service to Lisbon
• Carcassonne +2h30 bus and train; extensive Ryanir inc Portugal
• Coach: from Barcelona, cost effective and time efficient, allowing late arrivals into Barcelona if you don't mind a night coach, albeit arriving a bit early at 5am, though first train at 6am, the local bus is not until 9am thus lots of killing time.

Minimum stay of 2 weeks with fixed arrival and departure days, avoiding hard-to-fill availability gaps whilst maximising occupancy. Alternate arrival and departure days would be permitted with temporary stay in a pod. Buses do not operate Sundays, therefore until the railway reopens changeover days would be Fridays or Saturdays (choice at booking; when a gap is created it will be used to facilitate cleaning scheduling, however not strictly necessary as with an average stay at 4 weeks only 2 rooms per week will need cleaning).

It is expected that the average stay will be one month, resulting in 2–3 changeovers per week which is easily manageable. Initially short stays would be accepted without restriction, ultimately this would be reduced to only 1 room and pods.

The founder would be present essentially full-time during the initial phases (2 years) until adequate operations are established when he would stay part time to ensure staff training during changeover, or to fill-in when short. The founder's room is retained and is not included in earnings.

Surplus rooms and pods may be offered as free accommodation in the form of a residency, giving talks, etc.

• The building is solid with a recent roof of mechanical tiles in good condition, but has been empty for at least 10 years.
• Has missing stair windows, all others are passable except the other side Nov–Mar and will need replacing.
• The shop front needs rebuilding, the large glass frontage will be blocked up except for two windows in the same form as the higher storeys, this is howevera minor task. The existing glass can be used for a greenhouse.
• The water connection is not plumbed in (is connected in garden) but given as all bathrooms need to be relocated this is not notable. Wastes are however somewhat notable as require piercing the vaults and running to a single location. (One full length of vault will be used and covered with a plasterboard ceiling.
• The 11 bathrooms represent the most notable effort, but this will be optimised as many are similar.

The building facade is ideal for a tasteful mural, thus an artist will be invited (maybe as part of the streetart programme, to decorate it every now and then.

The ground floor has a very tall brick vaulted cieling which would be stripped of paint to show its colour, under which IR heating panels and lighting will be hung, along with fans.

Existing decorative cement floor tiles will be retained provisionally but should ultimately be replaced where costs allow as is notable.

Building

The stairwell with its stone staircase could become imposing and memorable with full height murals and hanging art/lighting.

Most fittings will be bespoke, this optimises their function for frequent use and easy maintenance whilst also reducing costs.

Aluminium skirting will be used throughout for its resistance to scuffing, easy fitting and cost-effectiveness, plus the ability to incorporate strip lighting in places.

Lounge and casual workspace

A bespoke fitted curved sofa will be created, facing a section of wall for a large screen, yet retaining wide open floor space for games. Around the edges some desks. Floor would be best as sisal/seagrass (requiring frequent replacement), or oak with rugs.

Kitchen-dining

A bespoke fitted banquette along the wall below a window with a 4m+ dining table and chairs along the outer edge. Oak worktops. Shelving could be cheaper wood or even lacquered chipboard.

Ample fridge, and storage space on open shelving with removable wooden boxes, plastic containers in frdges. 2 primary stations yet that could support up to 5 working simultaneously. Simple reliable equipment such as stainless steel. 1 dishwasher could be adequate but an additional could be added. No convection heating (infrequent use), only IR panels, ambient heat will transfer from the lounge as the door will generally be open. A circulation system could bring warmer air from the roof down. Ultimately tomette flooring (red hexagon clay tiles); provisionally a hotchpotch a cement patched tiles.

Focus workspace

Coworking desks giving ~1.2m per person, having simple adjustable chairs, plus many built-in USB-C (PD) sockets so adapters don't need to be dragged around nor clutter the place. Some standing desks will be possible. Some plants. Should ultimately have an oak floor.

Library

Decorative seagrass, likely 3 chaise longue or a mix of second hand armchairs, bookcase and some trinkets.

Lounge

A wood stove for winter ambience. Would accommodate almost everyone somewhat tightly on sofas and armchairs around the wall, or more comfortably with beanbags as well, easily arranged for films on a large TV screen with surround sound. Enough open space for games on the floor and could also be used as a party room for some dancing, which being at the top end of the building away from most bedrooms on the opposite side would not be intrusive, same for the workspace. Outer walls will be insulated on the inside but only with thin woodfibre as not used throughout the day, for the same reason only double not triple glazing will be specified.

Bedrooms

Flooring will be seagrass, decorative in prime and premium. For improved acoustic damping walls will use 2x plasterboard plus wood fibre insultation, but not decoupled.

Bathrooms

Ensuites will use a sliding door minimising obstruction from a standard door. Sink in front of the door, with shower and toilet to left and right. 1m deep, larger in prime units.

WCs will be equipped with a bidet nozzle/douche. Rooms will be grouped to share a water tank, boosted (as an upgrade) with instant heating elements, providing instant hot water plus coverage in case someone uses all the tank. Room allocations will be made to maximise use.

Pods are full-height not double-stacked, with 80x190 mattresses raised higher than typical giving plenty of storage below (plus above), recessed in a cubby with curtain, and just enough space to stand next to the bed and change. The 2 bathrooms are completely separated just across the hall, 1 having a bath and window with view, also used by the plain room (2.5 persons per bathroom).

Ambient environment

The lounge will have small surround speakers and a subwoofer on a proper audio system (not silly home assistant speakers), allowing lively gatherings across the ground floor and onto the patio. A film could be being screened or lively game take place in the lounge and one would still able to work in the focus space or read quietly in the library.

It's good to have a healthy environment, and desireable to reduce exposure to microplastics (artficial fibres), VOCs (foam mattresses), artificial perfumes, electrosmog, etc. Simple steps can be taken even with budgetary constraints, such as using natural materials for flooring, natural mattresses (keeping a few foam ones for those with problems), wool duvets and blankets, and of course natural cleaning products.

Gentle lighting also has impact. Whilst office chairs could be an exception, they and sofas should be possible to easily re-cover with natural fabrics.

Tech

A professional system with multiple WiFi hotspots running on a dedicated power-over-ethernet backbone, using low power to reduce interference (and electrosmog). You'll be able to seamlessly roam around without loosing a connection or dropping a videocall. Somebody streaming video won't impact workspace bandwidth, plus the at-desk USB-C power will include an ethernet connection thus in most cases laptop users will be on a seamless wired connection without even being aware.

Internet connection as fibre.

We prefer local face to face interaction and as such activities and outings will be planned and written up on boards, however we shall also use a chat app to ensure everyone gets last-minute gathering and household notifications.

Heating and cooling

The house will be entirely electric, however attempts will be made to reduce resource use and consumption e.g. water tanks will be activated based on occupancy.

During low seasons, convection heaters will provide a base ambient temperature, whilst radiant infrared panels will be used to boost this in the kitchen and library. Bedrooms would only have convection.

A future upgrade could add ground-source, air-source or solar water heating to heat water before it reaches the hot water tanks to boost it, and possibly with a radiator circuit for the lounge and focus coworking instead of convection.