The building was completed in 1959
as part of the post-war reconstruction program.
The apartment is located in Lyon on The Fourvière Hill
and approximately 30 minutes from the city center.
We wanted to stick to the original spirit of the building.
We scraped the gable wall in the living room and the master bedroom
to highlight the rough concrete structure.
It's a way to show the heritage of the building.
Also, it becomes a feature element of the apartment.
We live here with our six month old daughter, Alma.
We bought this flat in 2020.
We are surrounded by nature
where we also feel connected with the city center.
We fell in love immediately with the stunning views of the Saône River
the city center and the Alps, including the Moon Blanc.
We wanted a minimalistic design atmosphere,
so we added as much built in storage
as possible to optimize space to get its full potential
and also adapt it to a contemporary lifestyle.
When we first found the apartment,
it was still in its original layout from the fifties.
There were two bedrooms, a separate kitchen
and a small living dining room separated by a large corridor.
We knocked down the master bedroom,
in order to create a large, open living kitchen and dining area.
The original kitchen was turned into a small bedroom.
We also switched the other bedroom access
to allow light to go through the apartment.
We narrowed the width of the corridor to allow for
additional storage space.
When you walk into the apartment, you discover a floor
to ceiling painted corridor.
It connects every room in the apartment.
At the end,
we placed a full size mirror to visually extend the corridor
on the left side.
We narrowed the width of the existing space
to gain closet and storage space.
It includes two concealed doors.
We wanted to enjoy natural light all day long.
We made sure that all the doors were aligned with the windows
so the light would go through the apartment, and especially
at sunrise and sunset time
when entering in the living room.
You are immediately drawn to the balcony and the view.
We painted the balcony floor
in Majorelle blue just because it was fun.
We love having breakfast there on the weekends.
The seating area includes a sofa.
It is large enough so that we can use it as an extra bed.
The two armchairs and the coffee table are vintage pieces from the sixties.
The orange chairs have been in Mary's family for decades.
Along the back wall, a long piece of furniture
with oak doors hides our library and the radiator.
We use the blank wall above as a screen for a projector.
For the oak board
We use only IKEA elements, but we added side finishes
between each furniture in order to make it fit to our space.
We use this strategy
for the kitchen and the bedroom too.
We wanted the living room to look larger,
so the kitchen has to be as unobtrusive as possible.
That is why we used only low kitchen cabinets with drawers
We chose the quartz countertop
and the white taps, sink and induction cooktop.
In an adjoining room, we made a small pantry room.
We call it Cabistou
It is entirely custom made in red Fiberboard.
We hid an oven, a fridge, a vacuum cleaner and our groceries here.
The dining area has a table also finished in Oak.
It can sit up to ten guests when we add all the stools we have in the apartment.
At the back of the kitchen, we carefully remove the plaster
from the wall to reveal the structural walls from the building.
It's a way to show the heritage of the building.
Also, it becomes a feature element of the apartment.
The master bedroom is at the end of the corridor.
It receives a lot of natural light from the large windows.
We use the pocket system to make the door blend into the wall
and allow just a little more space to move around.
It makes all the difference in the small space.
We love the way the light focuses on
the texture of the wall. Below the window
there is a low cabinet with doors similar to the cabinet in the living room.
We use it to store books and hide the radiator. On the top of it
We display a mix of beloved item, plants and family pictures.
The floor to ceiling wardrobe
doors were custom made and painted white to look like a wall.
The other items are all derived from wood.
Alma’s bedroom is by the entrance,
we choose a pocket sliding door to maximize the space.
It allows us to put a small wardrobe
which we soften-up, using a floor to ceiling curtain.
We used some of Maxime's drawings to decorate Alma's room,
and I used leftover paint from the apartment
to create the mobile over Alma's bed.
The bathroom is through another concealed door in the corridor.
We wanted it to look very minimalistic
so almost all the space is covered with waxed concrete.
We made a ledge to hide the pipes,
and now we use it to place our plants on top.
The hanging basin
extends into the shower area.
We design as much built-in storage as possible to accommodate
the washing machine, hot water tank and other bathroom items.
At the entrance of the bathroom.
There is a small room for the toilet.
As an architect, when it comes to designing a home.
I'm always looking for harmony and well-being.
I think it's always better to re-use
rather than destroy and rebuild.
I think it's the best way to reduce our land footprint
and also energy consumption.
This way we take advantage of the heritage
of the building to turn it into something new.
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