Renovation of a mid-nineteenth century villa in Bordeaux. Highlighting the already existing through the contrast

In the interpretation and articulation of the existing architectural signs the project emerges, where each new fragment of architecture fits into its context

Thanks to a strong hereditary context, the challenge of this renovation was to create a new living environment adapted to current needs, without distorting what already existed, while at the same time introducing a new force that would not fall into a simple mimicry

The owners wanted to renovate the villa to make it suitable for their lifestyle, which involved a complete renovation of the interior.
The aim of the project was to enhance the existing conditions by generating a contrast using new architectural elements

The interiors have been redesigned to maintain the charm of the old spaces while adding a contemporary touch. The old and the new complement each other through a play of contrasts.

The allocation of the building's interior spaces has led to a new distribution: on the ground floor, two living rooms and a kitchen; on the first floor, a more intimate living room, the office and a fitness room with bathroom; on the second floor, a master suite, with a large bedroom, a dressing room and a spacious bathroom; on the third floor, two children's bedrooms with an attached bathroom; on the fourth floor, a bedroom with a private bathroom.

The ground floor has two living rooms separated from the kitchen. The kitchen extends into the larger living room, which opens onto the garden. The kitchen that reveals the living room is composed of three distinct elements: a central one-piece piece of furniture, a piece of furniture against the wall based on the proportions of the central piece of furniture and a piece of furniture made of walnut. These three parts are connected to each other without overshadowing what was previously built, the central furniture is favoured by this block of ice in a warm environment

The living room leads us to a private garden inside the Jardin Public, with a porch lined with corten steel sheets on the sides. It creates a warm atmosphere, which is ideal for a moment of rest and family

On the first floor, specific considerations were carried out to develop an office. The walls are covered with oak on which stands a library. Here, too, the contrast between the shade of the oak and the black elements gives this space a warm atmosphere. The oak cladding also found in the large dressing room on the second floor, highlights the white plaster frame

Each bathroom is designed according to its particular context, the parents' spacious bathroom is concretized along its entire length by two strips, one light and one dark, which join the floor, the wall and the ceiling as a single element. The children's bathroom has a more traditional tiling work, the echoed ceilings with frames, the floors reminiscent of a chessboard, with the diagonal compositions of the tile floor

What makes this project so striking, especially in areas where at first glance there seems to have been no intervention, is the fact that things are just as natural as they always were. To achieve this duality between new and unchanged spaces, it was important for the teams on site to work with old materials, such as fine plaster, plaster cast, carpentry and traditional furniture. The result would be accurate for the visible parts as well as the hidden parts

Everything has been designed in such a way that each architectural element finds its place or each contrast highlights the existing ones. In the meantime, this house is synonymous with the present and projected into the future