Loading...This is it! Next Monday we’ll be settling in! After two years of total involvement, including one year of relentless works, I’m more than happy to tell you that we’ve finally made it. The fact that we’ve achieved this just a few months after Pentalog’s 20th birthday is even more exciting. Once again, I take this opportunity to shut up those non-dreamers who hide their narrow-minded spirit behind derisory criticism: the total purchases and renovation have cost us less than €3000/m2. This is slightly higher than initially expected but 3 times cheaper than in Paris, 4 times less expensive than in London, and about the same price as premium Bucharest locations where you cannot see a single tree. Pentalog brings back to life a magnificent place with a budget smaller than that allocated by its competition to pale accomplishments.
Needless to say, the joy felt by the Pentaloguians in Orléans and the teams of two startups which will soon join us is immense. Having at one’s disposal such a beautiful park full of positive vibes leaves no one indifferent.
Most importantly, what gives me more satisfaction today is our first contribution to the conservation of a piece of heritage and perhaps to a little bit of history since our castle, far from being in ruins, needed some help to stand up the test of time and abandonment. Its undeniable charm was starting to fade away.
We have devoted a lot of our time and efforts to it in a very short period of time. Most certainly, our castle has never been as solid as it is today, with strengthening new beams, fit to keep up with the rhythm of a company like Pentalog or that of its startups, with all due respect to its origins, which can be traced back to the 15th century. The building is now showing off its new facades, looking more beautiful than ever. I remember the great emotion I felt when the floor restoration works began. While stripping the successive vitrified layers, not all of them well-done, we could smell the perfume of those old times and strong wood essences captured in this gangue for almost 400 years! We could smell at once those encapsulated scents preserved over the years, anterior to the time of Louis XIV and, beyond any doubt, to that of Louis XIII!
I would thus like to thank all the people who contributed to this wonderful project. I have in mind here all the artisans who worked so hard to meet deadlines and did so successfully. I can still remember the words of some workers when I was passing by to see how things were going on December 23. Honoured to have the chance to work on such a project once in their professional life, one of them even thanked me. I was deeply touched.
Most of all, I would like to thank two persons in particular: my beloved Dad, the hidden hero, and Pascal Fabre, our architect. About the first-one I can only say that he has been the construction supervisor I can never be, as impatient and absent as I am. As far as Pascal is concerned, the fact that he’s originating from the same place as the castle was reason enough to choose him. I wanted to offer the architect maximum intimacy and a personal stake. Pascal was perfect, both a composer and conductor and I thank him from the bottom of my heart.
This project will mean a lot in my life. Owner of my house, I have neither built it, nor restored it. But there’s a lot more with the castle: We have saved this magnificent place. The moment I walk through the door with my backpack next Monday, I will already start to miss this project. What will be our next great piece of work? I’d love to do something like this again in Romania, my second homeland, my left ventricle. We probably missed this chance in Brasov last year, but why not do this one day in Iasi, Sibiu or Bucharest? The stake is even more complex back there since we are supposed to accommodate between 100 and 200 engineers in one city. Then why not choose a modern building? After all, tomorrow is another day and the future is already here!
