For this project,
we were both the architects and the clients.
The brief was simple
find a place with a soul
and make it an apartment.
What we found
was a studio from the mid 20th century.
It has now been transformed into a family home.
We live here with our baby daughter.
The apartment is located in the center of Paris
in the eleventh district, a neighborhood called Oberkampf.
Oberkampf is a very lively area.
It is also close to Le Marais
which is a popular historic area.
Edouard loves busy places with a lot of objects
and full of stories.
Ophélie is more attracted
to open plans and simple lines.
That's how we came up with the concept "L’atelier rangé – dérangé"
which can be translated to a tidy and busy workshop.
When we first found the apartment,
there was a single half-length wall which divided
the main space.
The rest of the apartment
was open with no other walls or rooms.
We sectioned off the entrance, created a bedroom
and bathroom area that can be closed off from the main space.
Then we added a toilet.
We also added a mezzanine above the office space,
which is now transformed into a nursery.
Lastly, we removed one of the entrance doors
and replaced it with a window and a reading nook.
As you enter
the apartment, you are faced with a glass divider made using
the same glass as the original windows of the workshop.
There is a wall made of Pinewood,
which has hidden storage space.
We added a small Pinewood bench,
which also doubles as storage for shoes.
The kitchen,
the living and the dining areas are an open
plan.
Low furniture can make a space feel more generous.
So we designed a low storage unit that wraps around the wall
within the living room.
We also included a built in planter
and added some floating bookshelves.
We designed a bench
that wraps around the heater. It allowed us to cover it
and also create another area to sit
and relax.
We divided the living and the kitchen area
using a sofa and custom made bench seat.
We designed an integrated kitchen.
We chose a matte black finish so that we could feature
the existing beautiful stone wall and contrast with the marble.
The kitchen is equipped
with a modern stainless steel oven and an induction cooktop.
It has also a laundry
and plenty of pantry space.
We separated the bedroom
with a recycled glass window.
The sleeping area is very compact.
There is a queen sized bed.
A closet.
And a small bench.
The bed was custom made, so we could add storage
and make use of the space under the bed.
The bathroom is ensuite with the bedroom.
It was important for us to have a full size bath
as we didn't want the apartment to lack the comforts
of a bigger space.
We installed a mirror
into the side of the bathtub to reflect
its surroundings and give the illusion that the space is bigger
than it actually is.
Finally,
we installed floating wooden shelves to visually open up the space.
The nursery was originally used as an office
We turned it into a nursery with the arrival of out baby daughter.
There is a custom made closet and a multi-functional furniture
that integrates a cot, a changing table,
and an armchair. This piece can be transformed into a larger bed
when our daughter is toddler age and into a full size bed
when she reaches school age.
The mezzanine area is currently used as storage,
but we plan to make it into a reading corner in the future.
We replaced the original skylight with a much larger one
to bring in as much light as possible.
When it comes to designing a small space
it's not the square meters that matter, it's
what we do with them.
Paris is an expensive
city and space has become a luxury.
This is actually why we advise our clients
that it's better to have a small space well-designed than a larger one,
but impractical.
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