00:03We used to live in the apartment below this one.
00:07We owned the attic and we were having a child.
00:12We decided we would investigate whether we could uplift the roof
00:16and build a new apartment on top of the existing one.
00:22We wanted to have one main bedroom for us
00:27plus a separate soundproof bedroom for our baby.
00:38The apartment is located close to Porte d'Ivry, one of the many gates of Paris.
00:47The neighbourhood is home to a mix of cultures
00:51with many cafes, restaurants, bars and interesting public places.
00:57There are large avenues with big buildings
01:01and also narrow streets with tiny houses.
01:07We don't exactly know when the building was erected.
01:11It may have been in the 1870s.
01:14It has always been a building for families of workers.
01:19At some point, one family owned the whole building.
01:23They later split it up and sold them as separate apartments.
01:28We made friends with our neighbour from the upper floor
01:33and talked to him about uplifting the roof
01:36and we decided to do this adventure together.
01:38The process of extending the building took so long
01:42that actually my wife gave birth to our daughter
01:45only two weeks after the construction started.
01:49On the first floor, we have a living, dining, kitchen, bathroom,
01:55laundry and staircase.
01:57We also added a small terrace to enjoy the views of the neighbourhood.
02:01The second floor has our baby's nursery and our main bedroom.
02:08When entering from the common staircase,
02:11the door opens to the main space.
02:14The main space is open-planned and has a living, dining, kitchen.
02:21We wanted to give it an additional sense of volume,
02:24so it has an open staircase, two zones with higher ceilings
02:28and a double height above the kitchen dining space with a skylight.
02:34The floor across this level is a composite steel concrete slab.
02:39We decided to cover the concrete with a pale grey epoxy resin.
02:45It makes for a continuous space with no joints at all.
02:50The living room takes up a corner of the main area.
02:53It features three original togo sofas by designer Michel Ducarrois.
02:59The brown one is from the 70s and was given to me by my grandmother
03:03who bought it in a flea market.
03:05We stumbled upon the two other pieces on the road while jogging in Paris
03:09and had them re-upholstered.
03:12The living room features two black AG wall lamps,
03:16a round mirror that I made and an ancient dresser with a marble top
03:20that belonged to my grandmother and has been in my family for over a century.
03:26The living space leads to the terrace with a step that will also store things underneath.
03:32We made it with the same wood as the stairs and covered it with a black stone slab
03:37salvaged from the destruction of the chimney.
03:41The terrace has panoramic views of the bell tower and surrounding neighbourhood.
03:46We love to come out here in the summer and enjoy the weather.
03:52The kitchen is L-shaped.
03:54We decided to have all of our cabinets low so that the space feels less cluttered.
04:00The cabinets are even lower in front of the window for the bench.
04:05Our kid loves to climb up there to watch us cooking or doing the dishes.
04:11The cabinets incorporate a fridge, a dishwasher and a full size oven.
04:16On the counter sits an induction hob and above it is an integrated extractor hood.
04:22The backsplash is made of simple white ceramic tiles.
04:27The counter is made of HIMAX, a material best known under commercial brand Korean,
04:32doubled with birch plywood.
04:36One part of the wall is made of stones which is actually the exterior wall of the building next to
04:42us.
04:43Our custom dining table can be extended to seat up to 8 guests.
04:47We also found all the dining chairs on the street and restored them.
04:52One of them is an old bistro chair painted in black and with a contemporary canning of yellow watering hose
04:58that we weaved by hand.
05:02The stairs are finished in birch plywood and have no visible screw heads.
05:08We covered it with 5 coats of super strong varnish.
05:13A small storage space is concealed below the stairs.
05:21Above the living room is our bedroom.
05:27There is a skylight and a ceiling fan with the feature being the large double glazed window that overlooks the
05:34kitchen.
05:37We have a desk by the window so the room sometimes doubles as our office.
05:45There is a bespoke storage unit with plenty of space for clothes and personal belongings.
05:53We kept the baby room very simple.
05:57We wanted it to be able to grow with our baby.
06:04The bathroom has a concealed and soundproof door as it opens directly to the main space.
06:13It is a cubic volume with a bathtub by the window, an extra large mirror and simple equipment.
06:23The sink was found in the street and put on top of a remodeled dresser we bought for a few
06:28euros.
06:30The toilets, the boiler and the tiles were bought second hand the day before the first Covid-19 lockdown as
06:37all stores were already closed and the construction had yet to be finished.
06:43Hidden behind the mirror door, we designed a simple laundry room that contains a washing machine, some storage, the switchboard
06:52and the boiler.
06:57Vertical extensions to existing buildings are a way to accommodate more people in a given city.
07:04They benefit from existing electrical, water and sewage networks as well as having established transportation, schools, hospitals, parks and other
07:15services.
07:16When you design small spaces, the criteria of success feels more real because you have no option but to make
07:23things work.
07:25Beauty and comfort must come out of practical, technical, physical and economical constraints.
07:31Fruit and Force
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