Built on the site of an old house set between two buildings in the heart of a very well-preserved block in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, this house is designed as a tree-like structure delimited on three sides by the original walls. The whitewashed pre-existing masonry recalls the rootedness of the genius loci while the wooden veneered tree structure defines the contemporary spaces. The existing windows overlooking the gardens in the two remaining north and eastern walls have been kept according to historical preservation regulations whereas the entirely glazed south façade belies the almost total reconstruction of the building and provides a glimpse of the volumetric complexity of its interior spaces. 

Even more than that of a tree, the most effective metaphor for the project might be that of a Cyclopean stairway: the house is a stair whose core houses the wet rooms, whose stairwell is defined by the gables of the neighbouring buildings, and whose steps and landings form the various living spaces. The fact that there was no need to partition the rooms (except the bathrooms) means that there is a sense of total spatial continuity from basement to roof terrace. The most interesting feature of the house lies indeed in its open space with stacked floors and no boundaries from the basement to the rooftop: the inside space appears like one single 150sq meter room on eight different levels with no divisions apart from the ceilings and floors. Only three internal doors give access to the facilities located in the tree trunk, as for the cellar, the basement bathroom and the top floor toilet.

The structure, entirely of steel, is made up of cantilevered floors borne by the central core and partly dissociated from the three outer walls onto which have been grafted concrete boxes that act as built-in furniture. The choice of materials reinforces the architectural design: the partitions of the central core, the floors and the ceilings are all clad in locust tree, whose dark colour and pattern contrast with the texture and whiteness of the outer walls. In order to compensate the darkness of the veneer and bring light at the back of the house, two light-wells providing views towards the sky are located at the north-east and north-west corners of the house. The experience of the inside space is one of vertical and circular movement giving insights onto the surrounding gardens and buildings of this highly preserved cluster of the “latin quarter”. The main inside views are orientated towards the front courtyard through recessed glazed curtain walls covering the entire southern façade. When unfolded, electrically operated shutters provide privacy and sunlight filter while still enabling glimpses on the volumetric complexity of the inside space. The laser-cut leaf shaped motifs of these metal screens blend with surrounding foliage and produce shades that paint shadows on the interior.