Toledano + Architects has renovated a typical Haussman apartment in Paris for a young family of three, adding a curved wooden ‘ribbon’ that doubles as an inhabitable wall and sculptural installation. This lightweight spatial element allows for the preservation of all existing historical elements that confer a strong character to the house, while unveiling new uses and a new appreciation of space. The wooden wall is lower in height than the ceilings in order to keep the signs of the former historical layout plan.
The apartment features typical Haussmann elements, including its moldings, fish bone parquet, and a linear long balcony. Circulating through the bearing molded walls, the wooden curved ‘ribbon’ dissimulates the entrance to the rooms and bathrooms, creates niches for storage or for the kitchen. The architects created walls entirely made of wood, from the rails inside, cut with a lasercut to the curved surfaces manufactured with molds. All the walls were pre-fabricated and assembled at the carpenter’s workshop and then reassembled onsite within a day.
On one side there are a master suite, with the bedroom, open bathroom and dressing room, and on the other side the children area, with a bedroom and a bathroom. The two parts of the ribbon define these two areas of the apartment. A narrow corridor separates the entrance from the wide and spacious common spaces: the living room and the kitchen and dining room.