Houzz Tours
France Houzz Tour: A Historical Apartment in Bordeaux Geared Up
This apartment has all the features of a much bigger space thanks to multi-functional units and clever design thinking
The young couple who own this apartment had a total budget of €300,000 (currently around AU$487,000) to spend on accommodation in Bordeaux, France. After some research and a lot of maths, they came up with two options: they could either afford a three- or four-room flat in need of a renovation on the outskirts of the city, or a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre.
Encouraged by a couple of friends who happen to be interiors professionals, the couple chose the second option and bought a maisonette made up of two studios on different floors that had been joined together. It was then up to architect Elodie Gaschard of Atelier Miel and interior designer Mickaël Martins Afonso to turn the apartment into a comfortable, high-functioning home.
Encouraged by a couple of friends who happen to be interiors professionals, the couple chose the second option and bought a maisonette made up of two studios on different floors that had been joined together. It was then up to architect Elodie Gaschard of Atelier Miel and interior designer Mickaël Martins Afonso to turn the apartment into a comfortable, high-functioning home.
The first-floor plan before works
The couple fell in love with the home’s location and bright interior, which gets light from 10 windows on two sides of the building.
Renovating? Find an architect near you on Houzz, browse images of their work and read reviews from previous clients
The couple fell in love with the home’s location and bright interior, which gets light from 10 windows on two sides of the building.
Renovating? Find an architect near you on Houzz, browse images of their work and read reviews from previous clients
The first-floor plan after works
The first storey houses the open-plan kitchen and living room. A timber staircase leads to the bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. Both spaces have the same configuration: a rectangular room with three large windows, and two small, box-shaped spaces – with their own windows – on two sides.
Inspired by this unusual layout, the design team proposed taking advantage of every nook and cranny to recreate, on a smaller scale, all the rooms one might find in a normal house.
The first storey houses the open-plan kitchen and living room. A timber staircase leads to the bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. Both spaces have the same configuration: a rectangular room with three large windows, and two small, box-shaped spaces – with their own windows – on two sides.
Inspired by this unusual layout, the design team proposed taking advantage of every nook and cranny to recreate, on a smaller scale, all the rooms one might find in a normal house.
Before, the small maisonette was in good condition, but the professionals planned to replace the basic layout with a tailor-made unit worked out to the smallest detail.
“It was so small that we decided to build everything into it, including the furniture,” says Afonso. “The constraint of limited space guided us towards the solutions we needed, helping us to come up with new ways to use the space.”
“It was so small that we decided to build everything into it, including the furniture,” says Afonso. “The constraint of limited space guided us towards the solutions we needed, helping us to come up with new ways to use the space.”
Now, the kitchen is housed in a custom-made unit. Bespoke built-in pieces are expensive, so the team had to keep an eye on the budget. “After the purchase, we had €140,000 [currently around AU$227,000] left for the complete renovation, or about €2,700 [AU$4,400] per square metre,” says Afonso.
“It was a comfortable budget, provided we made some economical choices: keeping the original chestnut floor and the existing double-glazed windows, and keeping the wet areas in the bathroom and kitchen in the same places.”
The choice of finishing materials was also crucial, since they had to place an order for 200 square metres of panels. They selected a solid rubberwood glulam (engineered wood), which is useful for its stability, mechanical qualities and, of course, lower cost.
“It was a comfortable budget, provided we made some economical choices: keeping the original chestnut floor and the existing double-glazed windows, and keeping the wet areas in the bathroom and kitchen in the same places.”
The choice of finishing materials was also crucial, since they had to place an order for 200 square metres of panels. They selected a solid rubberwood glulam (engineered wood), which is useful for its stability, mechanical qualities and, of course, lower cost.
The architect and interior designer wanted to free up as much space as possible for the living room, so they came up with the idea of a layout based on two built-in units along the walls, leaving breathing room in the centre.
Recreated in its original location and jutting out like a peninsula, the new kitchen takes up about the same footprint as the previous one, but with added functionality. The appliances are also spaced out better throughout the unit, and no longer crammed into one side of the peninsula between the island and the window.
The unit was custom-made by a joiner. Each cabinet front has an invisible grip. A black granite benchtop adds contrast. It has “a knife edge and a leather finish,” says Afonso.
The storage units above the work surface are cantilevered. “To prove they were properly secured, I lay down on top of them on the day the project was delivered,” says Afonso with a smile.
The storage units above the work surface are cantilevered. “To prove they were properly secured, I lay down on top of them on the day the project was delivered,” says Afonso with a smile.
Although the kitchen is small, a high-end extractor fan from Novy was included. It hangs on plasterwork boxing, which extends upwards to create a solid balustrade for the staircase.
Behind the kitchen, blinds conceal the entrance to the tiny laundry room located in one of the two protrusions off the original room.
Behind the kitchen, blinds conceal the entrance to the tiny laundry room located in one of the two protrusions off the original room.
Opposite the kitchen is the second wall unit, with the sofa in the centre of the room. “We chose a fully modular one, the Air sofa by Lago,” says Afonso.
Made of pale wood and MDF dyed black to the core, this built-in unit combines the functions of a bookcase, TV cabinet, storage area and dining table, and even extends into an office. A flatscreen TV is concealed behind the doors of the four central modules.
Made of pale wood and MDF dyed black to the core, this built-in unit combines the functions of a bookcase, TV cabinet, storage area and dining table, and even extends into an office. A flatscreen TV is concealed behind the doors of the four central modules.
Un grand PETIT nid « entre optimisation & modularité »
The base, which Afonso calls “the catwalk”, is a 75-centimetre-tall platform. As it’s designed to offer access to the bookcase and the office, it’s made of a single-piece, 48-millimetre-thick rubberwood panel designed to support the weight of an adult.
Inside, four large, 90-centimetre-deep drawers provide ample storage space. Cables and power points are hidden between the platform and the bookcase.
Inside, four large, 90-centimetre-deep drawers provide ample storage space. Cables and power points are hidden between the platform and the bookcase.
A second modular platform on top serves as a dining table.
The table can be fixed in two positions depending on the owners’ needs. “The couple can pull it out to eat every day while sitting on the retractable stools from Flux. When they have friends over, however, they can seat up to six by securing the table to the platform in a discreet slot provided for this purpose,” says Afonso.
Finally, there’s an office nook, also known as the “reading room”. This corner of the room was originally a closed wardrobe. The platform extends into this space. It’s topped by a 120 x 190-centimetre mattress of foam blocks. “It’s not very big, but it can be used as an extra bed for friends,” says Afonso.
But that’s not all. When the mattress is removed, a hatch lifts to reveal “the cockpit”, as Afonso has nicknamed it. A built-in step makes it easy to descend into the space, turning the extension of the platform into a desk. There’s also a stationary but height-adjustable office chair.
The staircase is between the entrance and the kitchen. It, too, is fitted with a pull-out under-stair storage unit that serves as a wardrobe and shoe rack. The lower steps double as seats.
The finishes on the staircase show the level of attention to detail that went into the project. “We wanted the steps to be a perfect outgrowth of the shelves,” says Afonso. “This led to the design of a riser that covers the step, which is the opposite of how it’s usually done. So the direction of the wood grain is always the same on the steps.”
A landing over the top of the kitchen cupboards ensures the stairs aren’t too steep.
The plasterwork balustrade that extends from the boxing of the extractor fan connects to the lower, wooden balustrade with a tidy recessed joint.
Browse more staircases to inspire
The plasterwork balustrade that extends from the boxing of the extractor fan connects to the lower, wooden balustrade with a tidy recessed joint.
Browse more staircases to inspire
To the left of the landing is the bathroom, separated by a frosted glass door, which allows more natural light from the bathroom windows to diffuse into the rest of the space.
The door frame, threshold and all wooden bathroom features – such as this stool pictured here, designed by Afonso himself – are made of chestnut.
The door frame, threshold and all wooden bathroom features – such as this stool pictured here, designed by Afonso himself – are made of chestnut.
The floor, shower enclosure and basin are marble, all carved to measure from the same block. This is not an overly expensive option, if you know how to select the right material.
“The cheapest material at the marble shop was this grey marble from Portugal,” says Afonso. “It was awful, but sandblasting brought out its veining in a blur effect. Then it came out great, simply unrecognisable.”
“The cheapest material at the marble shop was this grey marble from Portugal,” says Afonso. “It was awful, but sandblasting brought out its veining in a blur effect. Then it came out great, simply unrecognisable.”
The shower, which is located in a small recess in the laundry, is entirely covered in marble. Flooded with the light from a window, it’s a very pleasant place to spend time in.
Facing the bathroom door is the toilet, which is almost imperceptible behind its full-height pivot door.
The ‘after’ version of the same space shows the wall between the landing and the bedroom, which has been adapted to house two full-height storage units.
“We wanted to connect the two windows on the landing with these partition-wall units,” says Afonso. “It seems rectilinear, but in reality, we had to build it as a trapezoid to make up for the fact that the windows are not aligned.”
A cross-section
Your turn
What do you think of this ingenious design? Share your thoughts in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Want more on great design around the globe? Read this USA Houzz Tour: A Couple Meets in the Middle of Its Forever Home
Your turn
What do you think of this ingenious design? Share your thoughts in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Want more on great design around the globe? Read this USA Houzz Tour: A Couple Meets in the Middle of Its Forever Home
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple who are first-time homeowners
Location: In the heart of the historical centre of Bordeaux, France
Size: 52 square metres
Date of work: 2014
Designer: Mickaël Martins Afonso
Architect: Elodie Gaschard of l’Atelier Miel
The apartment is in a building made of local stone in the centre of the historical city of Bordeaux. The previous owner had created the maisonette by illegally joining two 26-square-metre spaces on the building’s first and second floors – the legal issues have since been addressed.