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The online classified ad certainly didn’t make the apartment look like much: three dark pictures, a torn-up floor, crumbling walls. “Luckily, my partner Muriel was motivated to go and have a look, because I thought it would be a waste of time,” recalls Lucas. Located on the seventh floor of a 1970s building in the capital’s 20th arrondissement, the apartment had been squatted for two years following the owner’s death. “Everything had been stripped out — floor coverings, parquet flooring, and more. The walls were literally falling apart!”
But on that Saturday in May, the sun was shining on the south-facing balcony overlooking the trees of the Petite Ceinture and the Mare footbridge. “All we had to do was step out onto the balcony and we knew we wanted this apartment ,” continues Lucas. Below, a string of rails drowned in greenery; above, a promise: that of an urban cocoon to be reinvented. The thirty-something couple were also attracted by another detail: the property had been bequeathed to La Cimade, an association that helps exiles. ” It was nice to know that the money was going to be used for a good cause.
Muriel and Lucas wanted their renovation to be sustainable, respectful and lively. “ We opted for a low environmental impact, using second-hand materials ,” explains Lucas, who works as a communications officer for an… environmental association. A friend of Muriel’s, a pediatrician, had just founded Second Œuvre, a company dedicated to the circular economy in construction, which was already collaborating with architect Gwendoline Eveillard – the sister of a colleague of Muriel’s at the hospital to whom the couple had decided to turn. What a small world!
When Gwendoline first discovers the place, the findings are clear:
“ The apartment was in a state of disrepair. But the concrete structure was sound, with a generous balcony and plenty of light. “On the other hand, the layout, typical of the 1970s, was too compartmentalized. ” The apartment had six rooms for 60 square meters,” smiles Lucas. The aim was to clear out the clutter, let the light breathe and reveal the logic of the building. We didn’t touch the shell of the building, nor did we change the way it was used,” explains Gwendoline. . The idea was to keep to an approach of sobriety, functionality and economy of means. “The project is organized around an experimental approach based on reuse. Right from the sketch phase, R&D workshops were held with clients to identify sources of materials in Paris and the surrounding region. The circular economy strategy reconfigured every stage of the project,” says the architect. . Sourcing was done collegially from the outset. “Parquet flooring, radiators, insulation, plasterboard: anything that can be salvaged is. For the rest, the architect suggests organic or geosourced materials. “ This work was both an experiment and a demonstration of the potential and limits of reuse. It enabled the project’s stakeholders to develop a real collective intelligence. “she stresses.
Spatially, light becomes the guiding principle. The apartment is now divided into three zones: the open-plan kitchen/entrance, the central living area and the sleeping area. The concrete structure, left exposed, gives rhythm to the space. Rather than erase the traces of time, Gwendoline chose to reveal them: rough lintels, visible pipes, imperfect plasterwork. “ The idea was to show what’s there, to consider that the technicality of the place contributes to its expressiveness. An approach to tabula rasa would have sterilized the space ,” she explains.
The result: a raw, almost industrial interior, but bathed in soft, moving light. Today, the former dilapidated dwelling has been transformed into a soothing cocoon. “ We’re really pleased with the result and Gwendoline’s ideas. She knew how to make the most of the fact that the apartment is traversant, with a superb newfound luminosity. “concludes Lucas. A modest and exemplary metamorphosis – that of a place which, without denying its past, is inventing a more sober, fairer and profoundly alive future.
