Spacial fluidity

Photography by Romain Ricard

The architect Gabrielle Toledano, the founder of Toledano+Architects, renovated a 19th century apartment in front of the Luxembourg garden in the Latin quarter of Paris for her family.

The idea was to open up the plan in order to have double exposure, east to west and be able to see the sun path from morning to night.

Since the apartment is located on the 5th floor, the views are very impressive, and Gabrielle Toledano wanted to highlight that quality. Above all in a dense city like Paris, light is one of the main elements to enhance. The 100 m² apartment is designed for the family of 4: Gabrielle, her husband (also an architect) and two small children.

The original layout was very partitioned, with lots of small mono oriented rooms. To obtain an open space a 50 cm wide bearing wall was broken, and the metal beam was used to reinforce the structure, subsequently it was highlighted in pale green as a reminder of what was there before. The new space is divided in three parts: the main living space, the parents’ suite and the children room, on opposite sides. In terms of materials, all the walls were covered with natural lime, because of its benefits for the quality of the air, the isolation as well as the warm atmosphere it creates. The living social area includes a kitchen, dining room , living room and a home office - all of which can be glimpsed upon entering the house. This area has a very clean design and poor materials with an accent of color given by a series of iconic furniture. The first area to accommodate is the home office. Here a sofa without armrests was placed with a protruding wooden base and rectangular cushions: the base in white and the two backrests in orange and red. A circular felt curtain was inserted to close off the space and, if necessary, also transform it into a third bedroom. Besides, felt helps isolate noise. When opened, the space enables to host large dinner parties.

To the left at the entrance behind a door is the powder room characterized by the enveloping green marble covering the floor, the sink and a part of the wall that hides the toilet box (it also doubles as a shelf). A custom-made piece of furniture in walnut wood contrasts the cold of the marble. The day and night spaces are separated with a long continuous walnut wood element from east to west that contains and hides the laundry, storage, the bookcase and a home cinema. Walnut wood and stainless steel were used in the bookcase to bring some warmth into the space.

In the dining area the touch of color is given by the dark petrol blue of Cassina's dining table. It features a cutting-edge structure with three cylindrical slats supporting an original top with a fluid and asymmetrical shape. To enhance the optical effect, chairs with a "light" design were chosen from the Family Chair collection by Living Divani. The minimalist design suspension lamp by Vibia illuminates the area.

The kitchen was made of vibrated stainless steel to reduce children's footprints and resist over time. The kitchen island is made of travertine, to blend in with the whitened oak wood parquet floor; and also includes a balcony for small breakfasts. To avoid compromising the continuity of the tones, we opted for the Radice stools in natural ash by Mattiazzi.

The two-colored armchairs liven up the living room located at the back of the apartment. The sinuous Ribbon armchair in klein blue by Artifort goes well with the orange Utrecht armchair by Cassina with its orthogonal elements. A pair of vaguely contoured tables from Living Divani's Rabbit & the Tortoise collection were placed in between. Also from the same brand, the Extrasoft light gray modular sofa with an informal look offers soft and malleable comfort. The entire space is well lit thanks to the two French windows and the choice of transparent white curtains. Between them a large sculpture in the shape of a face was hung on the wall. Below the Cassina chaise longue completes the look of the space by giving it a touch of sophistication.

The master bedroom is accessed from the living room. It is warm with white, walnut wood and a leather bedhead. The curtains are in beige linen.

On the other wing of the apartment, in the children's bedroom, plywood was used to create the bunkbeds, closets, toys storage and bookcase to bring a playful and young environment. Gabrielle decided to insert some pop and fun elements like French poplar plywood and dinosaurs handles, colorful baskets to store the toys.

Both bedrooms have an en-suite bathroom. The parents' one has a simpler design: in the enormous shower a bench covered with the same tiles as the shower and the walls extends along the entire wall, transforming itself into the support base for the extra deep sink. In the children's bathroom we find a livelier style with the beautiful integrated tub, a pale green cylindrical Corian sink and white Arabescato marble. Both spaces are embellished with elegant taps from the Spanish company Icónico.