From storage room to spectacular penthouse with views of Notre Dame: the radical renovation of a historic Parisian apartment in a contemporary key

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Most of the large buildings that populate the streets of

Paris,

especially in the downtown area, are built around the same architecture of large buildings that obey the

Haussmann style,

in which

their wealthy owners

were distributed across the different floors in large spaces.

In

the upper part

of these buildings, small compartmentalized rooms were most often hidden that were reserved for the homes of

the service employees,

who worked in the noble parts of the construction, or, failing that, they were used as practical

warehouses .

or storage rooms.

The architect Germaine de Cointet, responsible for the reform.GUILLAUME GASSET

With this historical background in common in this type of construction,

an apartment,

located on the top floor of a stately building a few blocks from the busy and commercial

Saint Germain Boulevard,

has changed its distribution and functionality to make way for

a spectacular penthouse

in the that its now owners - a couple with two teenage children - have just settled in after living abroad for several years.

The project and the renovation have meant for

Germaine de Cointet,

the architect responsible for this intervention and a disciple of

Jean Nouvel,

an important challenge to prepare an area full of

small, dark corridors

into the perfect space for this family.

"The new distribution of the home involved the elimination of all types of partitions and walls to reorient the space and convert those spaces into

practical and functional rooms,"

says the architect.

The living room, with sofas by Bruno Moinard for Invisible Collection, Semis rug by Kvadrat and brutalist style table.GUILLAUME GASSET

A penthouse with views of Saint Germain

The building, built at the beginning of the 20th century and with

different terraces that

were very little used, has also made it possible to extend to the outside the life that, otherwise, would have developed inside the house.

As the architect of the change points out, "we have managed to ensure that these spaces share, in addition to their spectacular views of the rooftops of Paris, a new family dynamic that turns them

into small gardens

at the top of the city."

A built-in bookshelf presides over the reading area.

The seats are a family heirloom and the floor lamp, Captain Flint by Michael Anastassiades for Flos.GUILLAUME GASSET

With an aesthetic inspired by that prevailing at the beginning of the 20th century, the transformation of the home is spectacular after the work.

Some tricks have managed, for example, to introduce natural lighting into spaces that were previously completely dark.

"Decompartmentalizing the hallways,

raising the ceiling of the entire home

and opening new

perspectives to the patios

with graphic and intensely colored stained glass windows has served to allow light to now enter in a totally natural and logical way throughout the house," says Germaine. by Cointet.

The kitchen, with simple furniture in wood and natural stone.

The side table is a Chinese antique piece and the vintage chairs are from Thonet.GUILLAUME GASSET

The architect explains that "everything has been perfectly thought out, because in this way we have used the space more efficiently and we have made, for example,

custom shelves and cabinets,

something that is totally efficient and more economical."

Color, one of the keys to change

The colors of the walls

also have a lot to say, "they are totally current, elegant and on-trend," adds De Cointet.

Thus, the chromatic selection that has been chosen for each of the rooms in the house is declined in a tonal range that opts for

art deco-inspired colors

and in which

midnight blue and black

delimit environments, playing with

gold

and they combine perfectly with the wood of the entire installed floor.

The blue of the walls achieves a total contrast with the flooring and manages to focus attention on the art deco furniture.

The Bird of Prey luminaire from the Belgian studio Haute Cuisine completes the set.GUILLAUME GASSET

The final touch, vintage decoration and designer pieces

The perfect circle of this project is closed with

a completely studied style, where

design pieces

are perfectly combined :

the

Belleme sofas,

which

Bruno Moinar

has designed for Invisible Collection,

the vintage

dining room chairs or the

Bird of prey

from the Belgian studio

Haute Cuisine.

Furniture that pursues a heterogeneous ensemble, but specially chosen in search of an

internal balance.

Germaine de Cointet comments that "the owners, great lovers of

ceramics,

have incorporated exceptional pieces into the set, such as a vase signed by the French ceramist Muriel Persil."

The kitchen, with simple furniture in wood and natural stone.

The side table is a Chinese antique piece and the vintage chairs are from Thonet.GUILLAUME GASSET

In the rest of the house, functionality is the order of the day with simple proposals for the use and order of space, and successful touches of color, such as in the outdoor furniture that has been installed, among abundant vegetation, on the terraces.

Everything so that this penthouse with views

can be lived inside and outside its walls.

• Decor