Set Sail On The Seine In A Revamped Parisian Houseboat

Marianne and Alexandre Bouchet never imagined living on a houseboat. That was until they were expecting their second child in 2000 and started looking for a larger home for their growing family, which now totals five. When they came across an ad for a Dutch bargelike vessel called a tjalk, moored on the Seine in Neuilly-sur-Seine, an affluent suburb of Paris, it was a case of love at first sight. “You’re at the heart of nature, surrounded by greenery and at the same time right next to an urban environment,” Marianne Bouchet enthuses. “It’s difficult to imagine such a place!”

The couple decided to buy the tjlak before replacing it 12 years later with another custom-built boat, which they named Cap Ferrat for the stylish peninsula on the Mediterranean Sea to the east of Nice. Strictly rectilinear in design, it more closely resembles a floating home, its two stories encompassing 3,400 square feet, four bedrooms, even a chimney. It also adheres to rigorous constraints in terms of its dimensions. It could be no longer than 65.6 feet and no wider than 26.2, in accordance with the regulations of the Voies navigables de France.

Explore A French Houseboat by Avenue Rachel Studio

Another requirement for French houseboat owners is the necessity to dry dock them at least once every 10 years. In 2021, the Bouchets took advantage of it being out of the water to right various wrongs. By then, numerous problems had become apparent. Or as Thierry Poubeau, founder of Avenue Rachel Studio, the local firm hired to oversee the renovation, refers to them: “technical disorders.”

The insulation was of poor quality, which meant the boat was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. There were issues with condensation, cracks in the former plasterboard walls, and terrible acoustics. “You used to be able to hear people distinctly walking on the upper deck when down below,” Poubeau recalls.

There was also an aesthetic matter to address. In his eyes, the structure on the upper level was disproportionately small. “The surface of its roof needed to be extended for it to be in scale with the rest of the boat,” he says. This he did both by increasing the square footage inside and adding an awning supported by Cap Ferrat’s chimney stack.

The renovation took a total of 10 months and required the intervention of 20 different trades, including a river expert and installers of environmentally sensitive systems. In the process, the houseboat was completely stripped back to its steel hull before new systems were installed. Alexandre Bouchet runs an energy transition consulting firm, and, among other things, it seemed natural to install hydrothermal heating. “In the winter, the houseboat retrieves heat calories from the Seine,” Poubeau explains, “because the temperature of the water is higher than that of the air.”

Wood Grounds The Minimalist Material Palette 

The Bouchets also desired a different look inside Cap Ferrat. “There was a lot of freestanding furniture before,” Marianne Bouchet continues, “and a real lack of unity.” Picking up on their love of Japanese aesthetics, Poubeau proposed a zenlike scheme dominated by wood. The walls and ceiling were alternately clad with striated acoustic paneling in oak and whitened pine.

The layout, meanwhile, was largely maintained. The focus of the lower level is a central living room, flanked on one side by the main suite and on the other by three bedrooms and bathrooms for the Bouchets’ children. Poubeau simply reorganized the parental bathroom so it could accommodate both a tub and a shower, extended the utility room, added a cloakroom, and installed a desk that is separated from the entry and staircase by a glazed panel. “It’s like the boat’s control panel,” Marianne Bouchet notes.

Poubeau was particularly astute in the way he integrated storage into the renovated interior. Place was found under the staircase for suitcases. Wardrobes were installed above a waterproof partition called “the peak” in the main bedroom and a platform created to access them. There are also trap doors concealed in its steps.

With so many built-ins, freestanding furniture could be kept to a minimum. Poubeau used the pieces in the living room to introduce a few pops of color, as well as rounded forms to contrast with the architecture’s orthogonal character. A perfect example is the pair of Ploum sofas by French brothers Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec. “They’re enveloping and have shapes that remind me of shells,” Poubeau declares. He also selected a linen pendant fixture consisting of three overlapping circles. “The shape mimics the effect of water when a stone is dropped into it,” he adds. Another aquatic reference comes via the series of light columns that rise from the staircase’s guardrail on the upper level, which he compares to “masts.”

Just like the Bouchets, Poubeau had never considered living on a boat before working on Cap Ferrat. Now, he would not be averse to the idea. “I’ve discovered a whole new world,” he recounts. “Being on the water in a boat rocking from side to side is very peaceful. When you look out the window and see the current flow by, it’s like being transported on a voyage.”

Explore The Eco-Friendly Houseboat On The Seine

AVENUE RACHEL STUDIO: ALAIN GALLISSIAN; LAURENT GUILLON; SIMON RIES. ENYSEO: HYDRO­THERMAL HEATING SYSTEM. C3A; PROMOB DÉCOR: MILLWORK. CHANTIER NAVAL VANDENBOSSCHE: GENERAL CONTRACTOR.

FROM FRONT LIGNET ROSET: SOFAS (LIVING ROOM). VITRA: COCKTAIL TABLE, STOOL. TAI PING: RUG. METALFIRE: FIREPLACE. RIVA: BOOKCASE. LUMINA: FLOOR LAMP. CULTURE IN: PENDANT FIXTURES (LIVING ROOM), VERTICAL FIXTURES (STAIRWAY). CHAISERIE LANDAISE: CUSTOM DESK CHAIR (LIV­ING ROOM), CUSTOM CHAIRS (DINING AREA). IMPERIAL LINE: TABLE (DINING AREA). MAISONS DU MONDE: COFFEE TABLE (DECK). IKEA: BENCH. KARTELL: SEATING (DECK, KITCHEN). IONNA VAUTRIN: ARTWORK (LIVING ROOM). THROUGH IMDA: VASE. HERMES: BLANKETS (LIVING ROOM, BEDROOM), PATTERNED PILLOW (MAIN SUITE). IRIS: FLOOR TILE (POWDER ROOM). DURAVIT: TOILET. INBANI: MIRROR (POWDER ROOM), SINKS (POWDER ROOM, MAIN SUITE). VOLA: SINK FITTINGS (POWDER ROOM, MAIN SUITE). NEMO: SCONCES (BEDROOM). CUIR AU CARRÉ: CUSTOM HEADBOARD (MAIN SUITE). FLOS: SCONCES. VENETA CUCINE: CABINETRY, ISLAND (KITCHEN).

THROUGHOUT ADMONTER: FLOORING. LIGNO­TREND: PANELING. IGUZZINI: SPOTLIGHTS. ALUDESIGN: [CUSTOM] WINDOWS. CRETE ET LAURENT: PAINT.

Danube Views and Ancient Architecture Meet in Budapest Flat

Ramy Fischler Studio prides itself on the diversity of its work. Recent projects include a smart fridge, an Hermès perfume store in New York, a line of self-produced furniture, and Twitter’s office in Paris, where the French firm is based and in the process of implementing a new master plan to harmonize the café and restaurant terraces on the Champs-Elysées. From time to time, the studio accepts the odd residential commission. But as principal Ramy Fischler emphasizes, “If we take one on, it has to allow us a certain amount of creativity to develop something unique.”

Recently, an entrepreneur with interests in Hungary approached Fischler with what was certainly a singular assignment. He had bought five apartments in a new luxury development with sweeping views of Budapest—one for his own use, the others for guests—that he wanted decorated in more or less identical style. Fischler took the bait. “We spent a year on his unit, defining exactly what he wanted,” the designer says of the 3,750-square-foot, three-bedroom floor-through, which has an additional 1,100 square feet of outdoor space. “It wouldn’t have made sense to do something different in the others. The décor fits him like a glove and duplicating it means he can give people the same experience as staying with him, only they have their own space.”

The Apartment Design Reflects Vastu Shastra Principles

The client had another very distinct demand: The design should adhere strictly to the principles of Vastu Shastra, the traditional Indian system of architecture. “It’s used to determine the layout of everything from religious to domestic spaces,” Fischler says, noting that the ethos is “simple and frugal.” One of its precepts is that the center of a home should be an empty space free from obstructions like columns or staircases (a requirement satisfied by the apartment’s mid-floor entry hall). And each area in the house is related to one of the four elements—fire, water, earth, and air—to which distinct design rules and color palettes are attached.

Fischler admits that applying such edicts was not always easy, even given the apartment’s generous proportions. “The ideal locations according to Vastu Shastra for faucets, drainage, the kitchen, and so on were often in total contradiction to what was in place in the rest of the building,” he reports. Among the changes he had to make to his original plans was the position of the beds. “Normally I like to have them facing a window so there’s an equal amount of light on both sides,” he explains. “But that was impossible here because they needed to be turned toward the north.” Since the living area is in an “earth zone,” which requires furniture to be low and grounded, none of the seating could have legs or feet. Hence the custom sofas comprising large cushions perched on travertine-slab bases. And in an adjacent sitting nook with a somewhat Japanese aesthetic, two chairs have bronze arms and upholstered backs but no seats, the idea being that, supported by the frame, you sit directly on the floor.

Natural Materials Create a Tranquil Environment

Fischler’s overall aim was to create not only a tranquil environment decibel-wise but also a visually soothing one. “There’s a sort of sobriety and calm to the whole space,” he says. No doubt the principles of Vastu Shastra contribute to that, but he believes the rigor of the architectural detailing also plays its part. “For me, the framework has to be perfect. When each line is precise, it brings a sense of composure,” he asserts. “That’s always the goal I set myself.”

Inside the Budapest Flat Designed by Ramy Fischler Studio 

ramy fischler studio: frédéric alzeari; florence vlemelinx; xiao ye zhang; estelle tran

light is more: lighting consultant

safa: custom furniture workshop

au gré du verre: custom cocktail tables (living area)

maami home: side table

normann copenhagen: ottomans

rubelli: sofa fabric (LIVING AREA), PANEL FABRIC (SECOND GUEST BEDROOM)

epoca: custom sofas (living area), custom chairs (nook)

lasvit; manooi: custom ceiling fixture (living-dining area)

Gubi: lounge chairs (living area), armchairs (entry, guest bedroom)

Roll & Hill: chandelier (study)

ferm living: glasses, bowl (study), teapot (kitchen)

ligne roset: chairs (study, dining area)

Gaggenau: appli­ances (kitchen)

élitis: panel fabric (main bedroom)

d’argentat: custom nightstands

knoll: desk chair

oluce: table lamp

brossier saderne: custom sconces

Dedar: bed fabric (bedrooms)

holland & sherry: panel fabric (FIRST guest bedroom)

edel carpets: carpet (guest bedrooms)

ramy fischler collection: nightstands

manooi: custom sconces (GUEST bedrooms), custom candelabra (bathroom)

makro: tub (bathroom)

alape: sinks

Dornbracht: tub fittings, sink fittings

j.d. staron: custom rugs

tabu: wood veneer

through zsdrál art pop-up galéria: ceramics

Jouin Manku’s Debut Super Yacht Sets Sail

2023 Best of Year Winner for Yacht

Designer Patrick Jouin and architect Sanjit Manku both have sharp early memories linked to boats. For Interior Design Hall of Fame member Jouin, one of his grandfathers was a welder at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard in western France and worked on the construction of the legendary luxury liner, Le Normandie, in the 1930’s. As for Manku, in his early 20’s, he built a skiff so large that he had trouble storing it. “My dad had to cut it in half to get it from the backyard to the front,” he remembers. “It didn’t end well.”

Since founding their Paris-based firm, Jouin Manku, in 2006, the co-CEOs and copartners have completed numerous restaurants for Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse, six boutiques for Van Cleef & Arpels, a spectacular residence in Kuala Lumpur, and a multitude of hotels. Yet, they had never been asked to work on the interior of a private yacht before. “We couldn’t understand why,” Jouin states. “We were so sure we were made to design one.”

Jouin Manku Designs the Interior of a Private Yacht

When the call finally came, it was well worth the wait. Built in the Admiral shipyard in Italy’s Marina di Carrara with sleek mint-green exteriors conceived in tandem by Azure Yacht Design and German architecture firm Archineers. Berlin, Kenshō, as the yacht is named, measures 246 feet in length and can accommodate up to 12 guests and a crew of 23. Its owner—a self-made European businessman—sounds both visionary and quite particular. Prior to commissioning the vessel, he’d checked out numerous other boats armed with a laser measure and noted down the exact dimensions of rooms he liked. He was also looking to create something different. “He’s always wondering whether things could be done better,” Manku notes.

The client insisted on having ceilings just under 9 feet and shunned the need for walkways on both sides of each deck. “He said, ‘People like symmetry, but having two walkways eats up valuable space,’” Manku continues. Most importantly, he questioned the common assumption that the navigation bridge has to be located at the front of the uppermost deck. Why should the crew, rather than guests, get the best view? Instead, a 915-square-foot sitting room was placed up there, with the wheelhouse tucked on the floor below.

The Kenshō Yacht Interiors Are Designed for a Peaceful Journey

Jouin Manku had distinct ideas of the atmosphere the team was looking to conjure. “Mega yachts are glamorous and powerful. At the same time, what intrigued us was, Could they still be intimate?” Manku asks. “Could they be something peaceful?”— indeed a challenge with a project that has four levels (plus one for staff) and six bedrooms. He and Jouin were helped by their client’s request to integrate Asian influences (Kenshō is the Japanese term for enlightenment). They adopted a soft color palette and favored the use of wood (specifically teak), silk, and leather. The latter lines the walls of corridors, where it has been sculpted by British artist Helen Amy Murray. The designers also opted for a more Asian approach to the lighting, installing backlit walls and ceilings. “The idea is that the light kind of hugs and surrounds you,” Jouin says.

Far East Motifs Include Silk Printed Patterns

Most striking are the motifs drawn from the Far East: the guest cabin bedheads upholstered in a silk printed with a gingko pattern, the custom Chinoiserie-style wallpaper in the main dressing room featuring monkeys and flying cranes, and the doors into the main bedroom, which are decorated with an abstract landscape evocative of clouds and mountains. Created from patinated brass by French metalworker Steaven Richard, it recalls the work of mythical Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Elsewhere, inspirations are nautical. The patterns of the rugs and ceilingscapes are drawn from hydrographic maps, and jellyfish and sailboats are among the subjects painted by Axel Samson onto the wood paneling the four powder rooms.

Modularity was also worked into Jouin Manku’s scheme. Asymmetric nightstands were devised to look equally at place on either side of a double bed or grouped together between two twin berths. Several pieces of furniture were fixed onto rails, which allow their component elements to be either joined or separated. A prime example is the expansive two-piece table in the dining room, which presented the team with a particular challenge. For much of the time, it could potentially be something of a dead space. “You only eat there on a bad day,” Manku says. “Otherwise, you’re out on a deck.” To enliven it, he and Jouin installed floor-to-ceiling glass cabinets filled with a collection of the owners’ nautical-themed curios.

A Marble Tub Makes for Ultimate Luxury

Finding the right marble for the tub in the main bathroom proved one of the most complicated tasks. Jouin and Manku traveled to stone yards around the world before realizing the solution was practically under their noses. The Admiral shipyard is located close to the famous Carrara quarries, where they came across two slabs with “calligraphy-like” veins and had them sculpted into an exquisitely rounded tub. “We created its curves not just for the eye, but, first and foremost, for the hand,” Jouin says. “The touch of the marble really is something else.” Call the experience enlightening.

Inside the Kenshō Yacht

Jouin Manku: bénédicte bonnefoi; dimitri malko; julien lizé; fanny peurou; axel de clermont tonnerre; vincent dechelette; bruno pimpanini; aurélien gauducheau; néhemy goguely

azure yacht design: yacht exterior

archineers.berlin: design, engineering consultant

trappmann consulting slu: interior design consultant

atelier 27; ébénisterie générale; tisg: custom furniture workshops

voyons voir: lighting designer

aude planterose: art consultant

admiral (italian sea group): shipyard

stuart king architecture: owner technical representative, surveyor

manutti: table (main deck)

sunbrella: sofa fabric, carpet (stair)

pedrali: games chairs (living room)

starset: games table

pierre frey: sofa, chair fabric (salon, sitting room)

Holly Hunt: chair (main suite)

delisle: custom lamp

de Gournay: custom wallpaper (main bedroom)

crystal caviar: custom chandelier (dining room)

pilot’ ag: custom table

galerie diurne: custom carpet

preciosa: custom lighting

miscimasci: custom silk

Inside the Paris Flat of Galerie Kreo founders Didier and Clémence Krzentowski

Design dealers Didier and Clémence Krzentowski have lived at the same address, an apartment directly on the Right Bank of the Seine, since the mid-1980s. Looking directly onto the Eiffel Tower, their initial space measured 1,500 square feet. In 2000, they got the chance to extend it when the neighboring flat came up for sale. Their only problem? How to finance the acquisition. “I went to see my banker and told him, ‘All my money is in my art collection. I’ll have to sell a few things,’” Didier recalls. Initially, he thought he’d have to part with 20 or 30 works. In reality, he ended up deaccessioning just one: an ostrich by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. At auction, it fetched $270,000 and was dubbed by the French daily Le Monde “the most expensive ostrich in the world.”

Since 1999, when they founded Galerie kreo (“creation” in Esperanto) in Paris, the couple has gained almost legendary status. They produce limited-edition and one-off pieces with a roster of designers that includes Marc Newson, Konstantin Grcic, and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, many of which have found their way into the apartment. They are mixed with vintage furnishings, in particular an impressive array of chandeliers, sconces, and lamps by Italian maestro Gino Sarfatti (Didier has co-written two books on modernist lighting and has a personal collection of around 500 models, mostly in storage).

The apartment’s décor changes regularly in an apparently organic fashion. “There is no method,” Clémence insists. “We don’t worry about things going together. Our collection is our self-portrait. So, there’s a natural coherence.”
And not everything is a signed work. For Didier, a meteorite he bought 20 years ago is “the most important sculpture in existence,” he explains. “It’s the only one that can never be copied.”

Clément Cividino Breathes New Life into 20th-Century Prefabricated Structures

Most were used as temporary housing by the French army and oil companies in Algeria, but Cividino’s version was one of two commissioned by the national energy company EDF-GDF and installed in the Paris suburbs. It’s the only one remaining in Europe and the sole example with a double-roof structure. “Camus was a pioneer in the field of prefabricated architecture,” Cividino observes. “Its freestanding structure is incredibly ingenious.” We ask him more about it.

Interior Design: How did you discover the Marabout House?

Clément Cividino: I initially found out about it through books on Jean Prouvé. I came across comments its former owner had left on blogs devoted to aluminum architecture and reached out to him about six years ago. It was in the Aveyron region of France, used as a vacation home with two bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen, and bathroom.

ID: What do you know about the designer of the house, Raymond Camus?

CC: Camus was a real pioneer, one of the first people in France to focus on industrial housing. One article calls him “The Pope of Prefabrication.” He developed a system of precast concrete panels in which insulation, pipes, and door and window frames were integrated for swift assembly. He helped to build thousands of lodgings in France and worked in both Russia and the U.S. too.

ID: What was the role of Prouvé in the house?

CC: There’s a photo of a prototype at his workshop, with lots of Prouvé’s own houses in the background. What advice or modifications he proposed to the initial design is anybody’s guess, but Prouvé himself was greatly inspired by it. He often promoted it in classes he gave at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris and quite obviously referenced the structure in the gas stations he designed in 1969 for Total, which also had 13 sides.

ID: What can you say about its design?

CC: It’s more functional than purely aesthetic, designed in the postwar period when there was an urgent need for housing. It had to be light, quick to assemble, and easily transportable. What’s interesting is its ingenuity. You don’t need any special tools to erect it, and it’s self-supporting. There are no columns and nothing but the walls to hold up the roof.

ID: How did you approach its restoration?

CC: It was in relatively good shape. The big question was what to do with the aluminum. Over time, the panels had turned gray-black. We tried about 30 different restoration techniques, including polishing and sanding. At the same time, we didn’t want it to be shiny like an Airstream trailer. That’s not how it would have originally looked.

ID: What’s the Holy Grail in terms of pref­abricated housing?

CC: Everyone would love to find Prouvé’s 1958 House of the Desert. As a kind of plaything, it would be fun to have a Futuro House, which was created by Matti Suuronen in 1968. More than anything, I’d love to either have a huge building in which to display lots of different ones together or for a collector to create an open-air museum. That would be really something.

Agence DL-M Sets a Left Bank Paris Apartment on a Colorful New Course

In recent years, interior designer Damien Langlois-Meurinne has worked on a series of Paris apartments that enjoy mind-blowing views. The dining room of one flat close to Place du Trocadéro is in direct axis with the Eiffel Tower. Another sits atop a hill in the city’s 16th arrondissement and offers sweeping vistas of almost all the French capital’s monuments, extending to Notre-Dame in the distance. Yet none of them has such a direct link to the Seine as this 3,500-square-foot four-bedroom located right on the river’s Left Bank. Look through the trees to the right and you see the Louvre; to the left, the Place de la Concorde. On July 26, 2024, its fourth-floor windows will no doubt be a privileged perch: That is the day earmarked for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, when some 10,500 athletes will sail past on boats from the Pont d’Austerlitz to the Pont d’Iéna.

The project stands out for another reason, too. Since setting up his own practice, Agence DL-M, back in 2003, Langlois-Meurinne has displayed a gift for reworking floor plans and spatial volumes. Often, he’ll gut an apartment and start things over completely from scratch. For a recent commission, he even had to remove a 215-square-foot swimming pool that had been installed, rather incongruously, on the fifth floor of a typical Haussmannian building.

There are, however, exceptions to every rule, and this project, for an art-collecting couple from the Middle East, was one of them. “For once, there was a natural balance to the existing layout,” Langlois-Meurinne recalls. “I didn’t really change much apart from connecting the primary bedroom to the adjoining bathroom.” The new birch-clad portal between the two is particularly deep. “It gives the space a sense of protection and intimacy,” Langlois-Meurinne notes. He also modified the shape of the walls in the kitchen, replacing jagged angles with enveloping curves.

What was lacking, though, was much in the way of architectural personality; the space was almost completely devoid of historical elements. So, Langlois-Meurinne designed new ones largely inspired by the Art Deco style of the 1920s and ’30s. He installed wainscoting and cornices in the large double sitting room as well as a host of elements in staff, a type of plaster he particularly loves working with. “It’s extremely supple and allows you to create rounded forms more easily than you can with wood or marble,” Langlois-Meurinne explains. The material was used to create the sculptural fireplace that anchors one end of the living space, the ribbed walls in the entry hall, and the domed ceiling in the dining room, among other details.

The rest of the decor is typical of Langlois-Meurinne’s style, from the strong axes to the integration of niches and alcoves to the bronze door frames that help structure the space. In many of his projects, the designer favors generously proportioned hallways. “For me, they’re essential,” he says. “They’re the backbone of a flat and need to be lively and have their very own personality.” Bestowing visual impact in the main hall, which serves as a gallery, is a mesmerizing moonlike work in bright red by Dutch artist Corine van Voorbergen. Langlois-Meurinne also created a rhythmic pattern on the floor below by insetting the Tundra Gray marble slabs with brass bands arranged in a syncopated fashion. “Their reflections help bring light to the heart of the apartment,” he says.

Light was a concern in the primary bathroom due to an absence of windows. The striking Panda White marble floor, which Langlois-Meurinne compares to a contemporary artwork, helps to distract attention from the fact. “The veining is very dynamic,” he says, “almost like an India ink drawing.” The designer also installed a plaster ceiling dome above the tub, into which he recessed indirect lighting. “When it’s switched on, it becomes quite immaterial and conjures the sensation of a light well or skylight,” he declares.

For aficionados of Langlois-Meurinne’s work, the color palette throughout the apartment may come as something of a surprise. He has long accustomed us to cooler tones, marked by a predilection for shades of blue. “I have a very strong attachment to the sea and the Mediterranean,” he says, explaining that he spent many a childhood vacation in the Cyclades of Greece. Here, however, he decided to play with warmer tones. The walls of the dining room were painted a pale salmon hue, and a monochromatic orange acrylic on canvas—Circus Peanut, by the art collective Henry Codax—dominates one end of the living room. “I don’t know where the inspiration came from,” Langlois-Meurinne admits. “I guess it’s a question of desire, of simply wanting to try out something a little different.”

Mark Alexander: straight sofa fabric (living room)

Lorenzo Castillo: armchair fabric, curved sofa fabric

Versmissen: side tables

Porta Romana: glass lamps (living room, entry, bedroom)

Barbara Lormelle: vases (living room)

Karen Swami: blue ceramics

Nicholas Haslam: chandelier (gallery), wall lights (powder room, bedroom)

TFA: bench fabric (gallery)

Creativ Light: pendant light (kitchen)

arteriors: table

Marc Uzan: ceramics

Graff: sink fittings (powder room, primary bathroom)

Schwung: pendant light (dining room)

Circa Lighting: lamp

Nobilis: chair fabric

HK Living: console (entrance)

Allied Maker: chandelier

Tom Kirk: chandelier (corridor)

Christophe Delcourt: nightstands (bedroom)

Lambert&Fils: pendant light (primary bathroom)

Chromatic: wall paint

Galerie Hussenot, Galerie Greta Meert, Galerie Filles du Calvaire, Galerie Scéne Ouverte, Galerie Maison Rapin: artwork

Hauvette & Madani Updates a 1980s Paris Apartment With Eclectic Accents

If there is one material the Parisian interior design duo Samantha Hauvette and Lucas Madani loves more than any other, it is wood. “Each time we do a new project, we always try to find a new type,” Madani says. In recent times, they have developed a particular passion for stained, varnished maple. “It reminds us of walnut burl,” Hauvette explains. Whatever the variety, they are mostly drawn to the interesting forms of the grain. “We don’t use many colors or patterns in our work, and wood allows us to create interiors that sing,” she adds.

Thus, in many ways, this 1,720-square-foot duplex apartment for repeat clients, a young family, in Paris’s tony 16th arrondissement was something of a godsend. Located on the top two floors of a rather commonplace 1980s building, it was decorated by its original owners in a distinctly Art Deco style and clad almost entirely in oak paneling. The lower level is home to not only the public spaces but also two bedrooms and two bathrooms; up above is a reading space on a mezzanine and a parental suite that opens directly onto a 215-square-foot terrace.

Over the decades, the wood veneer had lost something of its luster as well as its original color. “The apartment itself is very light and had been bleached by the sun over the course of nearly 40 years,” Madani notes. For the designers, there was no discussion about whether the oak should be kept. Miraculously, they managed to salvage all of the panels, sanding and then staining them a dark chestnut hue. “We love to use wood in tones that are not so obvious,” Hauvette asserts.

Due to their decision to maintain the paneling, few structural changes could be made. The pair simply removed a sliding partition between the dining room and kitchen. Most of the architectural elements also predate their intervention, whether it be the cursive brass staircase banister, the marble-and-brick fireplace, or the building’s elevator shaft whose cubelike top pops up next to the mezzanine. Among the few modifications they made to the interior envelope are the trumeau mirror in the sitting room and a full makeover of the primary bathroom, with its new 1930s-style oak vanity.

Rather fittingly, one of the duo’s greatest design inspirations is Art Deco maestro Jean-Michel Frank. Others include the Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby movie High Society and the spirit of the Seventies. “We don’t necessarily like objects in orange plastic,” Madani points out. “It’s more the approach to lifestyle and the freedom we associate with the decade.” One designer whose work they were particularly keen to integrate was Pierre Paulin—an alumnus of the prestigious École Camondo in Paris, where Hauvette and Madani first met as students. They set up their eponymous practice in 2010 shortly after graduation. “We love the curves of Paulin’s furniture and his irreverence,” Madani enthuses. “He created forms that had never been seen before.” Shapes that provide a perfect counterpoint to the more rigid, rectilinear nature of the apartment’s shell.

The notion of contrast is inherent to Hauvette & Madani’s work in general. One word that constantly crops up in conversation with them is équilibre—French for equilibrium. They achieve that balance partly by combining furniture from different eras—not an original concept per se, but they do so with particular flair, creating intriguing juxtapositions and dialogues between different pieces. “Sometimes we even take pieces that don’t look so great solo, but they really come into their own once they’re combined in the right way,” Madani notes.

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In the sitting room, a painted-wood vintage console by André Sornay converses with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s angular Facett sofa, while a parchment-clad ’70s cocktail table by Aldo Tura sits on a traditional Mauritanian reed-and-leather rug. One of the apartment’s most bravura gestures, meanwhile, is perhaps one of the simplest: the huge Isamu Noguchi paper pendant over the dining room table. “We tried lots of other things beforehand and they sort of just disappeared,” Hauvette recalls. “We needed something that was both large and light in order not to weigh down the atmosphere. The wood paneling is already very present.”

Pale tones throughout help to freshen things up further. A cool blue was chosen for the main bedroom. The décor in the small kitchen, a moodier tone of blue, was created in collaboration with the Parisian decorative painters Austin Redfield Tondini and Violette Bonis Dattner, who are famous for their custom patinated finishes. “There’s something a little dated to their creations,” Madani asserts. “They give the impression they’ve been there forever, which is exactly what we were looking for. We hate interiors that look spick-and-span, extremely new. Once we hand over the keys to each of our projects, the goal is for people to imagine, This is how things have always been.”

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through twenty first gallery: ceramic plate (mezzanine)

atelier areti: bookshelf

servomuto: sconces (entry); floor lamp (sitting room)

india mahdavi: vase (entry)

through valerie goodman gallery: ceramic dishes (entry, dining room)

wever & ducré: sconces (sitting room)

through galerie philia: light sculpture

ligne roset: sofa

through the invisible collection: accent pillow

dust and form through boon: white ceramics

through galerie negropontes: candlesticks

monoprix: stool

shut up and relax through boon: jug

abid javed through boon: vase, monolith

maison de vacances: armchair fabric (sitting room); blanket, pillows (bedroom)

through le vide dressing d’une parisienne: vintage wood bowl (sitting room); teapot (kitchen)

redfield & dattner: custom painting (kitchen)

heerenhuis: table (dining room)

fratelli levaggi: chairs (dining room, bedroom)

through theoreme editions: vase (dining room)

through galerie mcde: sconce (bedroom)

cassiom: sculptures

couleur chanvre: bed linens

pretziada through boon: rug

the socialite family: headboard

dcw éditions: mirror-mount sconce

vitra: swing-arm sconce

astro lighting: sconces (bathroom)

jean roger through the invisible collection: candlestick

frama: stool

through galerie française: artwork

trudon: candles