Architect：A53 | architecture + interior design |

Location：Boulevard Raspail, Paris, France; | ;

Project Year：2018

Category：Apartments

Located on the top floor of a residential building in Paris’ 7th arrondissement, the 43-square-metre apartment has been totally refurbished in order to maximize space.

The client requested that we redesign the apartment as a one-bed unit for rental, with a focus on realizing its potential as a real estate investment. She wanted to see all the functions of the apartment – kitchen, living room, bedroom, workplace – in one open space but with the right zoning.

The apartment was tucked under the building’s pitched roof, with an inaccessible mezzanine above its entire surface area. The original triangular layout created small rooms with bad communication and a lack of natural light.

The project’s design focused primarily on the organization of the space and its ergonomics, while highlighting its hidden qualities. The main idea was based on the demolition of the existing mezzanine floor in order to gain height and create a luminous open-plan space. We decided to remove all partition walls, strip the wallpaper, insulate the original wooden roof and paint it white to create a more spacious feel. Some of the original wooden beams were retained, reinforced and restored to reveal their charm.

A new mezzanine level was designed to cover only half of the apartment’s surface area, leaving a taller space near the windows for a spacious living area and workplace. The bedroom located on the mezzanine is lined with a series of timber battens, bespoke wardrobes and cabins that create a partition between the two levels, offering privacy to the room. A staircase constructed from sheets of welded metal leads up to the bedroom; an independent metal structure located underneath the mezzanine houses the laundry and storage room, while also supporting the staircase.

The kitchen features white walls, anthracite aluminum cabinetry and a linoleum countertop colored in smoky blue. The same linoleum also clads the custom-made metal dining table, which hosts the kitchen hob.

We used the same anthracite color tone for the elements that define the sleeping and dining area within the open-plan space – timber battens, staircase, wardrobes, cabins and metal structure – to unify this part of the apartment.

The original timber parquet floor was restored, sanded and varnished to maintain a sense of continuity while bringing a warm color tone in contrast with the white walls and the anthracite color.

The bathroom’s bespoke washbasin, shower floor and walls are lined with a very smooth white Silestone to give an open and spacious feel.

Natural light generously flows through the space from windows located on either side of the apartment and from skylights in the revealed pitched roof.

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