Olivier, the incognito journalist-proprietor of this Paris apartment, describes his freshly overhauled digs as “an sudden synthesis of Oscar Niemeyer’s French Communist Social gathering headquarters and my late grandparents’ home.” The 70-sq. meter (roughly 753-sq.-foot) room is located on the major ground of a 19th-century two-tale framework that experienced been a milking parlor.
Seeking to reside in a Paris suburb that hadn’t been “conquered by gentrifying strollers,” Olivier claimed buddies beckoned him to Saint-Denis and that his flat was the to start with he appeared at. Prolonged back converted to living quarters, the apartment was previous occupied by somebody in the theater enterprise who introduced its most distinguished characteristic: a virtually 6-foot extensive porthole passageway. Other existing aspects blocked the purely natural light and “lacked prevalent feeling.” Architects Suleïma Ben Achour and Antoine Lallement of Studio Classico ended up employed to not only remedy the layout, but to come across a position for Olivier’s books—”17 linear meters [55.7 feet] of them,” notes Suleïma—while lending the room an orderly, modern truly feel.
Be a part of us for a appear at the success, with nods all through to Olivier’s large-ranging structure references. Scroll to the stop for a glimpse of the historic composition and what the apartment seemed like prior to.
Above: The porthole divides the apartment’s dwelling area and the bed room and bath. Studio Classico’s remedy was to introduce a sliding bookcase that glides open up to present a “secret passageway” into the non-public suite.
Over: The general public 50 percent of the condominium is U-formed with an open up living area on just one aspect, a compact kitchen area on the other, and a dining desk in the middle. The uncovered rafters are unique and along with the porthole are what bought Olivier on his spot.Over: To lend the structure softness and cohesion, the architects utilized curved lines that echo the porthole.
Higher than: The kitchen has a plywood and Formica counter with exposed wood edging and a washable canvas skirt. The tubular mild is from Sammode Studio of Paris, which makes all of its models in France.Earlier mentioned: Suleïma describes the layout as “a 1970s, very easy kitchen area that can resist trends and stains.” They tucked the fridge on the side of the close by entry (see floor program beneath) “in get to have a pretty cleanse and linear countertop.” There are more cabinets and a selection opposite the sink.Previously mentioned: The porthole is noticeable from just about just about everywhere in the apartment.Ab0ve: The architects built a constructed-in area of interest alongside the eating table with “a closed cupboard with tempered glass to cover factors, and shelves above to showcase stunning every day objects. This cabinet is reminiscent a little bit of Greek architecture in which shelves are developed into lime plaster walls.”
The orange Ra ceiling light-weight is a 1969 Piet Hein layout the vintage Rey chairs by Bruno Rey are back again in generation from Hay.
Previously mentioned: The bookcases are made of stained pine plywood and conveniently slide to open. The existing flooring was sanded and completed in “the color of tatami mats.”
Bedroom/Bathtub
Over: The en suite rest room is on the other aspect of the divide—with enough clearance that, Suleïma assures, humidity is not an problem. “I have a quite sentimental marriage with guides, and am not able to part with them,” suggests Olivier. “Being surrounded by guides, irrespective of whether novels, essays, image publications, or collections of poetry, stimulates my curiosity. It’s also a little bit like living in a residence the place the household furniture is alive. Some people do light-weight remedy, I rely on the benefits of paper.”Over: The wall-to-wall carpeting in the en suite bathtub was motivated by Olivier’s grandparents’ 1970s bathroom and “adds to the sensation of acquiring passed into the non-public sphere of the condominium,” says Suleïma.
“I preferred to split absent from the standardized bogs uncovered in most new properties,” states Olivier, noting that early in the undertaking Suleïma confirmed him Balineum’s line of tiles, and he fell in really like with a checkerboard of Victorian-type Mottled Tiles and traditional Hanley Tiles with a canvas skirt like the a single used in the kitchen. The classic yellow plastic towel holders by Makio Hasuike insert to the 1970s undercurrent running through the apartment.
Previously mentioned: The Balineum tiles ended up also applied to the shower ground. “The toilet details are critical simply because they are the past factor I see at evening and the initial detail I see in the morning,” suggests Olivier.Higher than: The gold carpeting from Balsan extends into the bedroom, which has its have crafted-in niche for books.
Flooring System
Higher than: When we do interior renovations, we by no means have predefined models or colours we want to use,” says Suleïma. “We, of system, have references we like, but higher than all we want to highlight the awesome points that are by now there. In this scenario, it was the lovely porthole and the timber frame—which led us to picture the condominium as a cabin monastery from the seventies.”
Exterior
Over: The historic composition is on a cobblestone street in Saint-Denis, a person of Paris’s northern banlieues. “After residing my more youthful yrs in the center of the motion, my thirties have taught me that I come to feel improved a minor additional out of it,” Olivier explained to us. “Saint-Denis has a bad name, but I’ve usually liked its variety and rich historical past.”
Before
Over L: The present kitchen area was wedged future to the entry. Earlier mentioned R: “The porthole was previously there in a non-aligned wall we realigned it to boost the geometry,” suggests Suleïma.Previously mentioned: The kitchen, says Olivier, “had pointless angles and the mild didn’t flow into as it need to.” He was launched to Studio Classico, which is only two several years old, via a buddy: “I appeared carefully at their to start with tasks and each time I reported to myself ‘I could are living here’—the colors, the products, anything spoke to me.”
We have introduced just about all of Studio Classico’s projects to date:
