Maison du Patrimoine project 

After the nomination of Luang Prabang as World Cultural Heritage site in 1997, UNESCO contracted Ateliers de la Peninsule again to lend expertise to the newly created "Maison de Patrimoine". The first task was to carry out a comprehensive baseline assessment of Luang Prabang's urban and architectural components and propose a work plan for the "Maison du Patrimoine" project. The scope of the research included zoning, land-usage and property rights, urban landscape, waste collection and management, water supply and sanitation, walkways and roads, streets and monument lightings, commercial displays, signboards and advertisements. The key challenges of this initial phase was to decode the traditional and colonial architectural vocabulary, record the urban dynamics at play and comprehend the critical issue of evolving wooden housing construction practices. Ateliers de la Peninsule was entrusted with the management of the very first pilot wooden house conservation project "Ban Xieng Mouane" and training of local architects in urban planning and heritage conservation. This work was presented in several high level conferences, including in June 1997 in Luang Prabang at the Royal Palace, and in October 1997 during the Sommet Mondial de la Francophonie in Hanoi, Viet Nam.