The Lighthouse: A Parisian Apartment with Ocean Views
Discover The Lighthouse, a Paris, France-based apartment designed by Toledano + Architects in 2024. This duplex marvel weaves together the fluidity of the Atlantic Ocean with innovative design, featuring a mesmerizing bay window that brings the Biarritz lighthouse into your living room. With its curved layout inspired by crashing waves and a blend of oak, stainless steel, and travertine, this apartment redefines coastal living.
About The Lighthouse
Redefining Coastal Living in Paris
The Lighthouse stands as a beacon of modern design, nestled in the heart of Paris, France. Originally part of a 1930s Basque villa, this apartment has been masterfully transformed by Toledano + Architects into a duplex that pays homage to its coastal inspirations. The design ethos, deeply rooted in the natural curves of the Biarritz waves and the Atlantic Ocean’s rhythm, sets a precedent for architectural innovation.
Upon entering, the vast bay window immediately captures attention, acting as both a frame for the lighthouse of Biarritz and a dynamic canvas painted by the ocean’s infinite moods. This window, engineered in steel to seamlessly meld into the walls, allows the apartment to breathe in the coastal landscape, making the external world an integral part of the interior design.
The duplex layout ingeniously mirrors the fluidity of the seascape outside. Curvilinear forms dominate, from the sweeping contours of the living spaces to the gentle arches that define transitions within the home. This motif of uninterrupted flow reflects both the physical proximity to the coast and the desire to imbue the apartment with a sense of openness and harmony.
Toledano + Architects selected materials that resonate with the themes of light and fluidity. The ground floor dazzles with stainless steel and overlooks the ocean, capturing and refracting daylight throughout the apartment. This luminous quality is balanced with the warm tones of oak wood sourced from French forests and travertine, especially notable in the private quarters on the gallery level. Here, intimacy and warmth envelop the bedroom, office, and a bathroom that channels the serenity of a boat cabin with its own porthole view.
Notably, the kitchen embodies the apartment’s ethos of fluidity and interaction with the environment. Its retractable design allows it to vanish entirely, fostering a seamless connection with the ocean’s expanse. This feature, along with the main gallery floor’s independent metal structure, underscores the innovative technical and aesthetic solutions that define The Lighthouse.
Preserving historical elements, like the original herringbone parquet, ensures the apartment’s modernity respects its architectural heritage. This blend of past and present is encapsulated in the 4-meter high wooden bookcase that both frames the bay window and celebrates the owner’s collection, reinforcing the home’s identity as a space of personal and architectural narrative.
The Lighthouse is not just an apartment; it’s an homage to the ocean’s everlasting allure, an embodiment of Parisian elegance, and a testament to the transformative power of design.
Technical Mastery Meets Coastal Aesthetics
The Lighthouse’s unique significance lies in its bespoke engineering and design solutions. The bay window’s design required meticulous consideration of wind resistance, given the Basque coast’s notorious storms. This not only informed the choice of materials but also led to an innovative structural approach to ensure durability and aesthetic purity. As a marvel of contemporary architecture, The Lighthouse offers a rare fusion of design ingenuity and environmental harmony, setting a new benchmark for coastal living in an urban context.
Photography by Simone Bossi
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