Apartment Rue de Seine

The commission accepted by Olivia de Pazzis Hanemian and AIM Hanemian Architects was to renovate a small apartment of just 50 sq. metres in the heart of Paris. It needed a complete makeover: brightness and comfort were priorities, and not forgetting a touch of elegance and luxury.

The apartment is a Parisian pied à terre for the owners, who let it out when they are away, so AIM Hanemian Architects had to take this dual function into consideration.

The side of the property with three windows looking out on the street was where a large living room and a bedroom were sited. The wall between the former entrance and living room, made of timber and partition material, was completely opened up. The timber supports were left in place and simply stained to enhance the general light and airy effect. Low-level units were designed around this vertical framework to separate the new entrance/kitchen/ dining space from the living room and provide a dining-room buffet, showcase, storage space and housing for a TV set.

A large furniture unit was designed to fill the length of the entrance wall. It did not reach fully up to the ceiling in order not to diminish the visual impression of the size of the living room. To the left of the door there was space for more storage units, and to the right of it the refrigerator, more storage cupboards and shelves, and a fully ‘connected’ modern desk/work space. Once again, for reasons of visual impact the kitchen design included no high level units.

The colour scheme matches the stained timber work with the lively grey of the broad-planked parquet floor. A bright green has been chosen as the dynamic unifying shade for the whole interior.

The bedroom is adjacent to the dressing room and to the bathroom which is entirely in waxed concrete. This is where lockable cupboards are sited in which the owners store their private possessions when the apartment is rented out.