Appartement BDD
Jean-Benoît Vétillard Architecture

In Montrouge there is a small flat with no walls, just open spaces to walk through, or better still, climb.

In the Île-de-France region.

For Jean Benoît Vétillard, what makes this project unique is the monumental wooden volume that rises in the kitchen, like the side of a mountain, or a Mayan pyramid.

Covering an area of 60 square metres, the flat has undergone a radical makeover, driven by the desire to rethink everyday spaces in terms of ergonomics and usability, but not only.

What the designers did was to shape a landscape, "an open valley", to use their words, in which light, lightness and liveliness are the key elements.

Entering through the narrow corridor that leads to the open space, you do not immediately realise the true size and identity of the world you are venturing into.

A generous window covers the entire façade, on the side is the kitchen, and on the other long side appears the sculptural wonder that holds the sceptre of queen of the house.

Four light-coloured wooden steps, interspersed with smaller ones, lead up to a mezzanine. Another small room is set behind the pyramid, at floor level but invisible from the kitchen, like a secret niche, one of the many surprises the designers have scattered around the room.

Simple wooden furnishings complete the picture, but on closer inspection there is much more than meets the eye: the mountain of wood conceals doors and openings, storage spaces tucked between the steps, which also serve as shelves for photos or souvenirs.

Conceived in this way, the house truly becomes a galaxy to be discovered, a play of volumes full of surprises, where small spaces are not a limitation but an opportunity to free the imagination.

This project is a reflection, undertaken with the client, on the ergonomy of the rest areas, i.e., the "everyday rooms", the generosity of the luminous shared space, the creation of a landscape, an "open valley" above the kitchen, and the creation of storage spaces integrated into this thickness. Here, there are no walls, just surfaces that can be walked on.

Author Jean-Benoît Vétillard Architecture
Team Eugenio Nuzzo, Bianca Lassandro
Location Montrougne, Paris, France
Year 2020
Builders Fr/Fr, Ateliers Poyaudins, Eurobat
Photography Giaime Meloni

Interior RA Double Brick House Mo-tel House

a project powered by Itinerant Office

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