A French Architect’s 657-Square-Foot Apartment Prioritizes Stylish Entertaining

“This 657-square-foot apartment on Paris’s Boulevard Richard Lenoir is all mine. I bought it two and a half years ago and it’s in a classic stone building,” Juliette Rubel, architect and interior designer, tells AD. She has already noted her longtime desire to design an apartment in a Haussmann-style home. To do so in her new digs, she restructured the space’s bones to configure two rooms instead of three, creating an open kitchen that faces the living room. The culinary space also serves as a bar, which maximizes the amount of entertainment area relative to the overall size of the apartment. An existing arched opening inspired her to create the bathroom door and the passageway from the entrance to the living room, which passes through a mirrored archway that echoes the arched windows of the living room. “It’s in a rather contemporary style that contrasts nicely with the moldings, fireplace, and cornices of the apartment,” Rubel says admiringly.

The dining room is located in front of the kitchen island, which doubles as a bar. Around a table custom-designed by Juliette Rubel are a Bertoia chair, Kembo armchairs, and a vintage Tulip armchair by Eero Saarinen. On the bar is a Brumbury lamp by Luigi Massoni, and on the custom-built bench that runs along the windows of the façade there’s a Panthella lamp. On the wall is a lithograph by Wang Guangyi and, on the right, a light sculpture by artist Guy Bareff.

Making space for a living room

Rubel used only natural materials in her redesign of the apartment. Stone appears in the kitchen and bathroom—Brazilian quartzite and Calacatta marble—on both the floors and built-in elements, like the bar and bathtub. Beige paint on the walls is reflected in wall mirrors that capture the light coming in through the windows. “The idea was to create a sense of depth and to create the illusion of a room that is larger than it is,” Rubel says by way of explanation of the optical illusion. “I used mirrors to reflect the moldings. It’s also a way of lightening the built-in elements, like the storage unit in the kitchen.”

The original herringbone parquet flooring has been salvaged—though it has been sanded—and leads to the culinary space, which, seen from the dining area, looks like a small bar-restaurant. “That was the goal,” Rubel says. Despite its dense materiality, the graphic, elevated bar installation adds a sense of lightness to the space. Its frame is in dark oak, like the legs of the table—which was designed by the architect—as well as the shelves of the bookcases, and, most notably, the long bench that runs under the windows of the large common room. It also provides invaluable storage in a small space. Its lowest shelf is open, not only to display objects, but also to allow the apartment’s three windows to be seen from the entrance. Thus, the feeling of open space in the room is further enhanced.

The open kitchen allows for unobstructed views of the windows in the living room.

The arched openings leading to the living room echo its arched windows.

Unexpected material drenching

The bench both hides the radiators and provides informal seating for visitors. It allows the space to be reconfigured as needed and can serve as seating for the dining table, which slides along the bench to create an adaptable piece of furniture. The top of the dining table is made of silvery Brazilian quartzite—the same stone used for the island and floor. The material is ideal for both prep and eating, due to its material resistance to acid. The architect also used the quartzite on the walls, creating a solid moment of color cohesion.

In the bathroom, Calacatta marble stands out with its shades of beige and brown. Rubel was drawn to the specific slab of material, knowing pieces of it are often rejected due to its patterning. “It’s a type of Calacatta that isn’t particularly elegant, but I like the contrasts it creates. The idea was to highlight the stone and let the rest of the interior reflect it, so I worked with mirrors that provide different views of the marble.” For the walls, the architect chose to “calm things down” with a light waxed concrete that is paired with the veined, textured marble in the bathroom. The fixtures are copper-colored, echoing the sinks, bathtub, and floor, while a slightly smoked mirror offers orange reflections. The round mirror also contrasts with the straight lines of the bathroom and echoes the arch of the door.