French architecture studio Pierre-Louis Gerlier Architecte renovated a studio in Paris, adding a curved wall with scalloped woodwork.
Located in Paris’s Saint Germain des Prés district, the previously dark and dated 30-square-meter apartment has been updated to create a simple hotel-like aesthetic.
“Our clients who mostly live in the countryside wanted a cocoon during their stay in Paris,” Pierre-Louis Gerlier Architect founder Pierre-Louis Gerlier told Dezeen.
“They bought a small apartment ideally located in the famous district of Saint Germain des Près, but it was quite old and very dark. Their main wish was to feel like in a hotel with simple and uncluttered decoration.”
Pierre-Louis Gerlier Architecte has completely redesigned the small studio overlooking the courtyard, taking inspiration from Shigeru Ban’s paper house while seeking to retain its original charm.
The studio has removed all the partitions, the irregular parquet and the false ceiling to increase the height of the space and reveal its beams.
“The first inspiration is The Paper House by Shigeru Ban,” said Gerlier.
“Like this house, a large curved wall crosses the space to offer different places a large living room open to the outside, an office area to isolate and of course all the bathrooms are hidden behind this partition.”
The studio added a curved partition that wraps around the corner of the apartment like a “cocoon”, enclosing the compact kitchen, shower room and toilet.
The wall has scalloped wood panels which have a two-tone design that aims to visually expand the space.
“The curved wall which integrates the bathrooms creates a cocoon effect”, specifies Gerlier. “This wall opens to the outside to maximize the feeling of space.”
Its curved shape is interrupted by a recessed section that serves to house a kitchenette.
The kitchen cabinets are in the recessed opening and have been finished in a bright green color. A waxed concrete backsplash provides a textured backdrop.
Touches of green were used to zone different areas of the open plan apartment, framing the sleeping area and used for a dressing table, desk, and kitchen cabinets.
The walls were painted white and waxed concrete was used on the floors to unify the space and reflect the light.
“The apartment being relatively small and not very bright, on the first floor on the courtyard side, we chose light colors for the living room.”
Next to the kitchen, a mid-century frosted glass sliding door leads to a small shower room housed in the curved partition.
Green waxed concrete covers the walls of the curved shower room and aims to create a feeling of privacy.
Pierre-Louis Gerlier Architecte is an architecture firm based in France.
Other Parisian apartments include this house designed by Toledano + Architects with a corrugated wooden wall and this apartment designed around a child-proof house.
The photograph is by Ercole Salinaro.
