A late 19th-century Parisian building, located on the 5th and top floor, undergoes a transformation with the addition of an attic space. The owner, an artist, dreams of living in the sky. The aim is not so much to enlarge the apartment, but to create an abstract volume for inhabiting the rooftops — to bring in height, space, and light.
The proposed extension is therefore deliberately modest: 21 square meters, accommodating a second bedroom with an en-suite shower room. It rests on a mezzanine that is precisely aligned with the service and circulation areas below, in order to preserve the living spaces, which unfold fully beneath the pitched roof.The fluidity and continuity of the space are reinforced by the mezzanine’s lightness — its minimal structure remains hidden. Only a large steel beam (IPN) defines the space with its horizontality, establishing a deliberate, referential dialogue.
Embracing the anachronism of inserting a loft into a traditional faubourg apartment, the design adopts an industrial language to match the desired spatial quality — double height, secondary daylight through an interior glass roof — and material palette: wood, concrete, and metal.